Perfect Imperfections
by AlohaBlackbird
Summary: Elizabeth McCord has proven time and time again that she can handle whatever is thrown at her in her position as Secretary of State. But what about her personal life, how will she deal with the curveball she never saw coming?
1. Chapter 1

Elizabeth paced back and forth in her office. She could not believe this was happening. Potential war with Russia she could handle, tricking ruthless Moldovan dictators was a cake walk, making nice with the Chinese now seemed like a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but _this_ , oh god this was not something she was prepared to handle.

She stopped pacing and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. It was probably a false alarm. She was forty-six damn years old. The stress must be getting to her. She sighed, either way, she had to be absolutely certain.

She walked around her desk and hit Blake's line, "Can you come in here?" She asked, her voice oddly timid.

Blake didn't even respond before barging in her office. He knew her far too well and therefore knew her tone was off. "Ma'am, are you all right?"

Elizabeth managed a small smile, she really cared about Blake, he was such a sweetheart. "I um, I'm okay, I just need you to do something for me and I need you to keep it to yourself. I mean tell absolutely no one, not even the rest of the staff, what you are doing or where you are going."

Blake's face was pale and looked almost scared, "What…what do you need ma'am?" He managed to sputter out.

Elizabeth pursed her lips, she hated to make Blake do this but he was the only one on her staff she trusted completely. "I um, okay…" she took a deep breath, this was even harder to say out loud, "I need you to go to the drugstore and get me a pregnancy test."

Blake's eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head and he managed to nod.

Elizabeth felt like she owed him an explanation, "I just need to rule it out. I've been feeling off lately and I just…Blake I'm so sorry, I just need to know for sure."

Blake just nodded again, still too awestruck to speak.

Elizabeth continued, "I'm going to head home. If you could pick them up and bring them to my house I would really appreciate it. Just…please remember to take off your ID badge and anything that indicates you're a State Department employee."

Blake seemed to have found his voice finally, "Yes ma'am, I'll call your detail right away." He turned to leave and before he could walk out the door Elizabeth called out to him.

"Blake?" He paused and turned toward her, "thank you." She said softly.

Blake managed a small smile, "You're welcome, ma'am."

Blake left the room and she turned back to her desk. Now she just had to call Henry. She grabbed her cellphone and dialed Henry. He had said he was working on his book from home today but she had to make sure.

"Hey babe," he said, his beautiful, cheery voice was almost enough to calm her down.

"Hi baby," she responded, the catch in her throat completely giving her away,

"What's wrong?" Henry immediately knew something was off.

She sighed, "I um, I can't talk about it right now. I'm heading home, are you there?"

Henry was extremely concerned, "Yes, I'm home. Babe, are you okay? What's going on?"

Elizabeth sighed and she squeezed her eyes shut, she really wanted to cry, "I'm okay…I just…I need you. I can't explain right now."

"Okay." Henry said without missing a beat, "I'm here. I love you."

She sighed would never understand how she got so lucky to fall in love with such a wonderful and understanding man. "I love you too, I'll be home soon."

Thirty minutes later Elizabeth was in her SUV on her way home. She was getting more nervous by the minute. She had tried to make casual conversation with Frank but it just hadn't worked. She couldn't act normal right now.

She got home and Henry met her at the door. He helped her take off her coat and then he just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She sunk into his hug, feeling so safe and content in his arms, and she held on to him tight. He soothingly ran a hand through her hair, "Babe, you're scaring me, what is going on?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath and pulled back so she could look him in the eye, "Are any of the kids home?"

Henry frowned, "No, Stevie's going to be at the library all night, Ali has soccer and then a study group and Jason is at that debate tournament."

Elizabeth sighed, that was good. She and Henry needed time alone to process all of this and if somehow she _was_ …well then they would need more time to figure out what they were going to do. She grabbed his hand and led him over to the sofa; he definitely needed to be sitting for this news.

She sat next to him and turned to face him. She took a deep breath, "Henry…I…I think I might be pregnant."

Henry's eyes grew wide, he was in total shock, he finally managed to spit out some words, "Excuse me?"

Elizabeth sighed and tears started rolling down her face. "For the past week I've been getting sick in the afternoon. I just thought I was eating something that was making my stomach upset but then…then Abby brought Chloe in to see Jay and it just hit me like a train. The same thing happened with Stevie, Ali and Jason, you remember, I never got morning sickness it was afternoon sickness." Elizabeth paused to study Henry and see how well he was processing all of this. She was immediately comforted when Henry reached out and took her hands in his own.

"Well, I think we need to get you a pregnancy test."

Elizabeth pursed her lips, "Yeah, I um, I already sent Blake out for that."

Henry managed a laugh, "I really think you need to start paying him more."

Elizabeth relaxed a little at Henry's ability to make a joke in this situation, "I really do, I just couldn't get it myself and I didn't want to run the risk of someone happening to see you getting it because I really can't deal with the kind of scandal that could create on top of all this reality that might be thrown at us."

Henry smiled and opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything the doorbell rang.

Elizabeth and Henry both got up and went to the front door. Henry let Blake inside and without a word Blake pulled out a thin box in a paper bag out of his coat. "I was very careful. No one at the office knows why I left and I was sure not to wear anything that could identify me when I purchased them. I also drove around a little bit just in case someone was on my scent."

Henry smiled and patted Blake on the shoulder, "We really appreciate this, Blake."

Blake nodded and then left the house.

Henry had the paper bag in one hand and he grabbed Elizabeth's hand with the other. He led her upstairs and even though none of the kids were home he shut the bedroom door behind them out of habit.

They walked into the bathroom and Henry pulled the tests out of the bag. They felt so foreign in his hands; it had been almost 14 years since they'd purchased these. Fourteen years without so much as a pregnancy scare and now they were 46 and 50 and acting like they were teenagers panicking over a broken condom.

"Do you need something to drink?" Henry asked, honestly not knowing what else to say.

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I drank a bunch of water before I left."

She dropped her skirt to the ground and sat on the toilet. Henry pulled a test out of the box and handed it to her. She took a deep breath and stuck it between her legs.

She set the test on the counter when she was done and got up and washed her hands while Henry set his watch timer. She pulled her undies back on but forwent her skirt.

"How long do we have to wait?" She asked as she sank to the floor.

Henry followed her and pulled her into his arms, "Only two minutes."

Elizabeth chuckled, "God, wasn't it like 10 the last time we needed one of these?"

Henry smiled, "I think so. But shorter is good, less time to wait."

Elizabeth pulled him a little closer to her, "Yeah, I guess that is a good thing."

They both fell silent until the timer on Henry's watch went off. By now Elizabeth felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. They both stood up but Henry wrapped an arm around Elizabeth, keeping her close. She flipped over the test and gasped at what she saw. There it was, clear as day that little pink plus sign.

"Oh my god," she said, her voice hushed from shock, "how…how is this even possible?" She found her voice rather quickly, "I'm forty six years old!" She started to laugh, "I'm Secretary of State, our oldest child is almost 21, we can't have a baby now…can we?"

Henry sighed and he rubbed his forehead because it felt like it was pounding, "I think we have a lot to talk about."

Elizabeth's jovial tone suddenly dropped and she burst out crying. Henry didn't even hesitate before enveloping her in his arms.

She clung to him like a child, he was her anchor and when he held her she felt impenetrable. She took a deep breath, "Henry, I…I don't know if I can do this?"

Henry squeezed his eyes shut; he had known that was coming, "That's okay, sweetheart, that's okay. How about we get you into bed and we can talk there?"

Elizabeth nodded against Henry. He sweetly led her into the closet and grabbed some comfy loungewear for her to wear and a pair for himself. They changed in silence and then crawled into their comfy bed. Henry pulled Elizabeth close to him, their legs intertwined and their arms wrapped around each other as they clung together. "I need to make a doctor's appointment. We need to be certain about this." Elizabeth whispered.

Henry just nodded; he wanted to say something, to comfort her to reassure her…but he couldn't. For a man who always knew what to say he felt like a failure in this moment because he couldn't yet give his wife the one thing she needed from him.

They just lay there for a little while until Elizabeth couldn't take the silence any longer, "Henry, will you hate me if I don't think I can do this?"

Henry snapped out of his stupor, "What? Have you lost your mind?"

Elizabeth managed a small smile, "Henry, be serious. I wouldn't even consider it if it would make you change how you felt about me."

Henry sighed, "Baby, it would never change the way I feel about you. You know how I feel about choice. Our lives are very complicated; adding a baby to this mess…well…it might not be fair to any of us, namely this baby. And there are a lot of complications that come with being pregnant in your forties, we need to do the best thing for our family, but mostly we need to do what's best for you."

Elizabeth felt the tears start to flow from her eyes again, "I love you."

Henry kissed the top of her head tenderly, "I love you too."

"Can we just stay like this for a while?"

"We can stay like this for as long as you want."

The next day Elizabeth managed to finagle her way into an after hours appointment with her doctor and they took extra precautions to make sure no one knew where she was going. Even her detail had no idea what this appointment was really about.

Henry met her there and she was thrilled, there was no way she could do this alone.

Dr. Bell took a blood test and suggested a transvaginal ultrasound while they waited, "It will give us a better view, it will be easier to find the heartbeat and it will help us to more accurate determine how far along you are, Madam Secretary."

Dr. Bell pulled out the wand and Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. She squeezed Henry's hand, "I'm fairly certain I'm about to be tortured for state secrets.

Dr. Bell tried not to laugh, "Don't worry, ma'am, you might feel some discomfort but it won't hurt."

Elizabeth looked at her with skepticism but she nodded. She held Henry's hand the whole time, squeezing it tight at the discomfort caused by the insertion of the wand.

Dr. Bell positioned the wand so she could see what she need to see and then smiled and turned the monitor toward Elizabeth, "You're only about five weeks along but you're definitely pregnant." She pointed to a little dot on the screen, "And that is your baby. Congratulations."

Doctor Bell took a few pictures before she ended the procedure and then she left Henry and Elizabeth alone so Elizabeth could get decent and so she could check on her blood work.

Elizabeth couldn't move though, she was frozen to her spot. All she could do was run her hand along her still-flat stomach. Henry reached down and covered her hand with his own.

Elizabeth looked up at him, "Henry, I know the timing is terrible but I can't…" she trailed off but she knew he knew what she meant. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips, "I know, we can do it, we will be fine. I mean, in all honesty our house is going to be a chaotic mess for a few more years than we expected, but we can do it."

Elizabeth smiled through her tears, "So we're going to do it, we're going to have another baby?"

Henry grinned, "We're going to have another baby." He leaned in and placed a more passionate kiss on her lips. They were going to have a baby and it was all going to be okay because they had each other and that was everything.

Elizabeth got dressed and after a few minutes Dr. Bell came into the room.

"Can I ask you something?" Elizabeth said, a little unsure of how to phrase her question.

Dr. Bell smiled, "Of course, ask me anything."

"How the hell did this happen?" She blurted out.

Dr. Bell stifled a laugh, "Well, statistically speaking you have about a 3% chance of getting pregnant over the age of 45 and that is if you're totally healthy and everything is working properly."

Henry and Elizabeth both had expressions of shock on their faces. "A 3% chance. Wow."

Dr. Bell handed Elizabeth an envelope. I put your ultrasound pictures, a few packets of information and your blood work information in here. I've made sure your assistant has my personal contact information so please don't hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns. I also want to assure you that you will never have to worry about information leaking from my office. We deal with a lot of politicians here so your privacy is our top priority."

Elizabeth smiled, that was comforting, "I appreciate that."

"I'll call your assistant and set up an appointment in another month. We can talk about some tests then but I included some information on them in the envelope. Due to your age I think the benefits outweigh the risks."

Elizabeth nodded, she was inclined to agree, they were definitely doing every test necessary.

"Have a good night."

They shook hands and Dr. Bell moved to leave the room, "Madam Secretary, Dr. McCord, congratulations."

Elizabeth squeezed Henry's hand at her words. She had told Henry that she wanted to have the baby...but could she? Hearing the doctor congratulate them just made everything feel so heavy, so terrifyingly real.

They arrived home a little later, both of them itching to talk about what had just been confirmed but not wanting to do it in front of her detail.

When they arrived home they opened the front door and heard fits of laughter coming from the kitchen. Elizabeth frowned, she definitely didn't want to talk to the kids about this just yet and she didn't want to concern them if she and their father locked themselves in their room to talk when it was still early.

Elizabeth turned to Henry, "Can we act normal for an hour or so?"

Henry laughed and helped her take off her coat, "I think we can do it. A little normal will probably be good for us right now."

They walked into the kitchen to find their children whipping cheetos at each other across the kitchen.

"Looks like some major studying going on here." Henry said sarcastically.

They sat around chatting with the kids for a while and for a little bit they managed to put out of their minds the idea that in several months they would have a tiny baby to take care of and everything in their lives would be drastically different.

Elizabeth got up to grab a drink and spotted an open bottle of wine in the refrigerator. She poured herself a glass without thinking and took a big gulp before suddenly realizing what she was doing and spewing the wine everywhere.

Henry and the kids turned to look at her, Henry's eyes grew wide and the kids all looked confused.

"This wine is bad." Elizabeth said, quickly trying to find a plausible excuse. She made a goofy face and proceeded to grab a rag and hastily start wiping up the spewed wine.

The kids seemed to buy her excuse but Henry still looked nervous. She grumpily dumped the rest of the perfectly good bottle of wine down the sink to keep up with the charade and while she was doing so she realized her frequent wine consumption suddenly dwindling down to none would be noticeable. This was going to be harder to hide than she had anticipated.

It was almost 10, she could claim she was tired and head to bed now. She grabbed her purse and announced she was heading to bed. She said good night to the kids and Henry said he would be up in a minute.

She shut their bedroom door and immediately pulled the envelope out of her purse. She sat down on the bed and just held it in her hands for a few minutes, unable to open it.

Henry walked in the room a few minutes later, startling her and forcing her to try to hide the envelope behind her back.

Henry smiled, "Sorry to startle you babe, it's just me."

She managed a small laugh and pulled the envelope out from behind her back and handed it to Henry.

"Henry, I know earlier I said I couldn't and then we said we could but...everything is sinking in and I feel like we need to be honest with ourselves about if we are going to be able to handle this."

Henry nodded, it was going to be a painful conversation but it needed to be had. "Okay, what are you thinking?"

Elizabeth sighed, "I'm thinking I'm going to do the cons and you're going to rebut my arguments."

Henry smiled, "Deal."

"Okay, well first off right now we barely get to spend any time with our current children, if we have this baby we're going to have even less time with the rest of them. After everything we've put them through with our jobs and the move...is that really fair to them? They have already had to grow up so fast and this would complicate that further. We would have to be able to count on them to help us and that really isn't fair. They're still kids and they've lost enough of their normalcy, I don't know if I could live with knowing we took away what little they had left."

Henry nodded, processing her words, she was right. This baby was going to profoundly affect all of their lives. "We can get a nanny."

Elizabeth frowned, "But I don't want us to turn into those parents who basically let their nanny raise their kid."

"Just a part time one, like Mrs. Davis."

Elizabeth smiled, "Oh I loved her, she was so good with the kids and she made those incredible apple zucchini bars."

Henry wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and pulled her close. She laid her head on his shoulder and let herself remember the good times with their former nanny for a minute.

"We would either have to get a bigger house or get rid of the guest bedroom and convert that room to a nursery." She frowned, "but that room is all the way down the hall and I wouldn't want the baby so far away so we would have to make Stevie switch rooms since she's closest to us."

Henry frowned, he couldn't see much of an upside to that situation, "Well, we could buy Stevie a new car to sweeten the deal?"

Elizabeth burst out laughing, "Bribery? That's really where we're at?"

Henry shrugged, trying to contain his own laughter, "Honestly I think it's a solid plan."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up, "Or we could finally refurbish the third floor room. Stevie would love that and it would give her some private space."

Henry thought about that, "Actually that sounds like a good idea. I think she would like that." He paused, "How do you think Ali and Jason would take this?"

Elizabeth sighed, "I think it will go either really well or really badly with Ali and honestly I think it will just go badly with Jason, especially if this peanut turns out to be a boy."

Henry frowned; he knew she was right; Jason would not be thrilled about any of this.

"Well...Ali always wanted a little sister so if it's a girl she might be happy about it and Jason might be less hostile."

Elizabeth chuckled, "So we're hoping for a girl?"

Henry looked down at his wife. He smiled; this had never been a discussion of whether or not they should actually keep the baby. From the minute Dr. Bell had shown them the little one on the ultrasound he had fallen in love and he knew it had been the same for her. But they did need to have this conversation, to talk about what was going to change, and he was happy they did. "We're having this baby?" He asked quietly.

Elizabeth nodded, "We're having this baby."

Henry leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his wife's lips.

When he pulled away from her he held the folder up between them, "You want to look again?"

Elizabeth grinned and took the envelope from Henry, reaching in to pull the sonogram pictures out.

She smiled, "It's strange, when I look at these I'm...I'm happy."

Henry kissed the side of her head gently and squeezed her reassuringly, "Me too. I know we're older but older people have kids all the time nowadays. It's going to be great and plus we've learned so much from raising the other three this one's going to be perfect."

Elizabeth burst out laughing, "Even with all our screw ups I think the other three are pretty perfect too."

Henry nodded, "I agree. See, we have nothing to worry about."

Elizabeth put the pictures back in the envelope and placed it on Henry's nightstand, "Guess we'll see if you still have your baby whispering talents." She ran her hand along the collar of Henry's shirt.

Henry pursed his lips and looked down, knowing exactly where she was going with this, "Baby whispering is a innate talent. I know I've still got it." He gently pushed his wife backwards onto the bed and she giggled as he kneeled between her legs. He kissed her stomach, bringing tears to her eyes, and then slowly made his way up her body until his breath was hot against her neck and she was already breathing erratically. "You up for some celebrating, Mrs. McCord?"

She giggled as his hot lips found the spot below her ear, "Hell yes." She said, turning her head to meet his mouth. The kiss was almost immediately full of passion, their tongues were dueling and they could feel their bodies heating up from the contact.

The kiss quickly gained even more momentum and before they knew it their clothes were shed and they were lost in each other once again.

Later they were lying in bed, completely naked and sweaty after passionate lovemaking. Henry had his head resting on her stomach and Elizabeth was running a hand through his hair, "How are we going to tell the kids there's going to be a tiny screaming human invading their space in eight months?"

Henry chuckled, "I'd like to circle back to the bribery idea? Normally I'm not one for bribery but I think this might be the exception to that rule."

Elizabeth laughed, "Yeah you might be right about that. I think only you and me…well, and Blake, should know until we get at least to the three-month mark. You heard Dr. Bell, I'm 46 and that means it's higher risk."

Henry pursed his lips, he was already attached to this baby and he didn't want to think about the possibility of losing him or her. "That's probably a good idea."

"Maybe we could take them on a vacation, I mean, it's hard enough for us to get even a day off now but in 8 months it's going to be even more difficult. I think we deserve a family vacation."

Henry looked up at her, "I think somewhere tropical where we can relax would be for the best. Maybe Hawaii? I'd rather stay in the states so we take as little risks as possible." He said, kissing her stomach tenderly after he spoke.

Elizabeth felt her eyes tear up at his sweet gesture, "Dammit, I'm already emotional." Elizabeth exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and then covering her face.

Henry laughed and scooted up so they could be face to face and he gently pulled her hands away from her face to reveal tear-stained cheeks.

He leaned in and kissed away her tears and Elizabeth was smiling once again.

"I don't think I tell you nearly as often as I should how happy I am that you're my husband."

Henry grinned, "Don't worry, I know."

* * *

OKAY, I wrote this for my older sister & my sister-in-law because we're all obsessed with Tim Daly & babies. It was supposed to just be a guilty pleasure for us (because really I would hate this storyline if it was a real thing) but I mentioned it a couple times on tumblr and there was some interest so here it is!

I think I've seen only one story like this, it's added to my reading list but I haven't had a chance yet so I hope they're not too similar.

ANYWAY, I go back and forth between loving this and hating myself for writing this so I need some validation! Or if you're like, "Jude, stick to your other stuff", whatever, just tell me! Pretty please?!


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is for Sage because she's a doll and she GRADUATED COLLEGE LAST WEEKEND! GET IT GIRL! YOU'RE A GEM AND YOU'RE GOING TO DO GREAT THINGS!

(Also apologies if there are any mistakes because I uploaded this from my phone and I find it hard to proof there. Also I'm in a little bit of a rush because I'm getting ready to head to dinner but I just wanted to get this up! Hope you enjoy!)

* * *

The next morning was Thursday and she knew it was going to be another long night at work. But that was okay; if they could knock everything pressing out tonight she could be home at a decent time on Friday and have a rare weekend with her family. Plus she and Henry needed some quality time to process everything that was happening.

She was doing her makeup in the bathroom when Henry walked in; he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

She squealed at the feel of his morning stubble against her neck, "Henry I'm going to stab myself in the eye with this mascara if you don't stop that!"

Henry kissed her one more time and then let her go so he could start getting ready himself.

"Babe I know we still need to nail down a timeline for who we're going to tell and when but I think you should consider telling Frank and Matt about the baby. They're your main agents, they need to know."

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I'm not telling them yet. Henry, their job descriptions literally put them in the line of fire with or without a baby onboard. The news isn't going to affect the way they do their job. I'll be fine. And I really don't need my detail panicking over me because you and Blake will do enough of that."

Henry sighed, "Elizabeth, I just think it would be good if they knew. What if you go abroad?"

Elizabeth sighed, she really didn't want to start out the morning with an argument, "Fine, if I take a diplomatic trip before we decide to tell them then I will do it."

Henry nodded, that was a compromise he could live with. He wanted her safe but he also didn't want to stress her out, "Okay, deal."

Elizabeth smiled, "Thank you, baby."

"You are going to confirm with Blake though right? I mean he already basically knows."

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, that would be really cruel of me to have made the poor kid go buy me pregnancy tests and then pretend the whole thing didn't happen."

Henry laughed, "Yeah, you might be right about that."

Elizabeth finished putting her lipstick on as Henry had wiped the last bit of shaving cream off his face.

"Good, I need to blot." She said, taking his face in her hands and kissing him, leaving a brownish red splash of lipstick across his lips.

When she let him go he turned to look in the mirror, "Oh, babe this is really my color."

She playfully smacked him on the butt, "That is definitely your color. Have a good day baby."

He wiped the lipstick off his face with a washcloth and then turned around and grabbed her hand as she walked out the door, "Hey, I know it's difficult and I'm not asking you to stop stressing yourself out because with your job I know that's impossible, I just want you to take a break if you feel yourself getting too stressed. Ten or fifteen minutes, I know you don't like to meditate but please just consider it, for me?"

Elizabeth sighed and squeezed his hand. She hated meditating but she knew if she agreed to this little thing it would help Henry with his own stress levels, "Of course." She said genuinely, "Can I call you and make you do the meditating for me?"

Henry laughed, "Absolutely."

When Elizabeth arrived at the office Blake was immediately at her side and of course he wasn't bringing up anything that had happened the last two days. He briefed her on the usual morning activities and Elizabeth was incredibly grateful for this normalcy.

He was about to sit back down at his desk when she asked him to come into her office.

He looked concerned but didn't say anything.

"Blake, I owe you an explanation. You've been wonderful the last two days keeping all my private...issues...well, private and not asking questions and I appreciate that." She took a deep breath, "As I'm sure you've come to conclude, I'm pregnant."

Blake's look was knowing with a hint of surprise mixed in, like actually hearing the words aloud had been what surprised him instead of the news itself.

Elizabeth continued, "You are the only person that knows besides Henry and my doctor and I really need to keep it that way for now. This was not something that was planned and Henry and I need to figure out how we're going to deal with it before the news gets out."

Blake just nodded along in understanding.

"I know I already ask a lot of you but I'm going to need your help hiding this, I don't even want Nadine to know at this point. I tend to get sick at around 1 pm so I'm going to need to keep that time period open unless you absolutely can't avoid it and then we'll figure something out." She sighed, "I'm sorry I have to burden you with this but I really need an ally right now."

Blake nodded, "Of course ma'am. I'm happy to help."

"I appreciate that, who's my first meeting this morning?" She asked, needing to change the subject.

Blake didn't miss a beat, "Just Daisy ma'am."

Elizabeth nodded, "Great, thank you."

Blake got up to leave and when he reached her door he turned back around, "Ma'am?"

She looked up at him.

"Congratulations."

She smiled at him as he walked out of the room, a genuine smile because this time she realized congratulations didn't scare her, she was happy about this baby no matter how much change it was going to bring to her life.

Thursday was hectic as she suspected but Friday came without a crisis and she arrived home at a decent hour with her weekend wide open. The family had already eaten dinner so she puttered around the kitchen eating takeout straight from the containers as Henry just looked on in amusement.

"What is going on with you? Do I have food on my face?"

Henry laughed, "No, you're just...you're glowing."

Elizabeth blushed and then rolled her eyes, "Shut up. I threw up in my office for an hour today. Poor Blake basically has to follow me around with febreeze and perfume. I almost broke down crying after watching a humanitarian aide video. I swatted Mike B.'s hand away from my fries so viciously I think I scared him a little bit."

"Wow, that's actually kind of hot. I didn't someone without a soul could feel fear." Henry joked.

Elizabeth laughed, "My point being, I feel anything but glowing!"

Henry walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around his wife, his mouth trailing hot kisses up her neck and making her moan in pleasure. "You're beautiful and glowing and I love you." Henry whispered in her ear. Elizabeth dropped the takeout container she still held in one hand and wrapped her arms around her husband, their lips met in a fire and they were both lost in each other until they heard whines of disgust as Jason and Ali walked into the room.

Henry and Elizabeth reluctantly pulled away from each other and rolled their eyes at their children.

"Jeez, get a room." Jason lamented.

"Technically this whole house could be considered our 'room' because we own it while you just live here." Elizabeth said sarcastically.

Ali rolled her eyes, "Whatever, you're the ones who are going to have to pay for our therapy."

Henry laughed, "Yes because it's sooo difficult to grow up with parents who love each other."

Ali stifled a laugh, "If they're constantly making out like teenagers it is!"

"Fine, whatever, if Dad and I stop making out can we all watch a movie together?"

Ali's eyes lit up, "Really, you're not too tired?"

Elizabeth walked over to her daughter and draped an arm around her shoulder, "No, come on, you can even pick the movie!"

Jason groaned, "If Ali's picking the movie then I'm out."

Henry grabbed Jason playfully by the shoulders and pulled him back, "Come on buddy, it won't be that bad."

Jason groaned, "She's going to pick Pitch Perfect again."

Ali nodded, her eyes wide with excitement, as she scampered into the tv room.

Henry laughed, "Oh, relax buddy. You know you secretly love it."

Jason just laughed and shook his head; he would never admit that his Dad was right.

Elizabeth followed the boys into the tv room and they all made themselves comfortable while Ali started the movie.

Jason claimed the comfy chair while Henry and Elizabeth made themselves comfortable on the sofa and Ali joined them, curling up into her mother's side like she was a little girl.

Elizabeth wrapped her arm around her daughter and held her close, knowing their middle child occasionally needed this extra attention and hoping that this new baby didn't make Ali feel even more in the middle than she already felt.

Henry paid less attention to the movie and more to his wife and daughter. He recalled how Elizabeth had been terrified before Stevie was born. She was scared about having children, afraid she couldn't open herself up to love them the way they deserved, she was terrified to leave them in the tragic way her own parents had left her, and she was terrified to love them so much that the thought of losing them seemed unbearable. They had obviously gotten through that, Henry's unconditional love for her had managed to impart upon her the rationale that maybe it was better to love hard so that even if you did lose someone you didn't spend your remaining time wondering if they had known just how much they meant to you. Their family always knew she loved them, no matter how much she was away or how stressful her life was, Henry knew none of the kids ever doubted their mother's love for them. Henry never doubted her love for him either, but even after all these years her capacity to love after so much loss in her early years never ceased to amaze him. She loved their family so deeply and so passionately and that would forever inspire him.

After the movie was over Henry and Elizabeth headed to bed. Elizabeth slipped on a nightie and Henry knew exactly what she wanted.

Later they were lying in bed, covers everywhere and limbs tangled together. Henry tucked a rogue strand of her hair behind her ear and he had a goofy grin on his face, "You're beautiful."

She blushed, "You're going to be singing a different tune in a few months when I'm fat and even crankier than usual."

Henry laughed and reached over to cup her chin in his hand, "I will always think you are the most beautiful woman in the world, no matter what."

She leaned in to kiss him lightly, "I love you."

Henry's hand snaked down to her belly once again and she reached down to interlock their fingers, "Can you believe there's a baby in there? I think a part of me is still in shock."

Henry smiled and nodded, "I'd have to agree. It feels a little like we're in a dream." He paused, "Hey, you know what we haven't done yet?"

Elizabeth furrowed her brow in confusion, "What?"

"Figure out when this little miracle was conceived."

Elizabeth grinned, that had always been one of the first things they had done each time she found out she was pregnant. She giggled, "I think Jason would disown us if he found out he was probably conceived in the closet at that boring UVA faculty event."

Henry laughed, "Well at least the other two were normal...fairly normal...places."

"Um our old sofa and being unable to wait long enough to go into the bedroom and grab a condom for Stevie isn't great. At least Ali was just some good old fashioned bed loving."

"And this one...what about this one?"

Elizabeth reached over Henry and opened his bedside table drawer to pull out the envelope, "There's a probable conception date somewhere in here."

Henry's eyes lit up and he sat up in bed. Elizabeth snuggled up against his strong chest and she pulled the papers out of the envelope and started scouring them. Her eyes lit up when she came across the date and then her face fell, "Oh my god, approximately March 15th."

Henry's brow furrowed as he backtracked to figure out he significance of the date and when he realized what it was his mouth dropped open, "Oh, right before you left for Iran."

Elizabeth nodded, trying to keep her cool, she wasn't going to let this get to her. The night before she left for Iran had been a _very_ good night. She looked at Henry and he seemed confused as to how to act about this news. She smiled at him, "Despite what happened afterward, that was an _amazing_ night."

Henry looked relieved that she was choosing to look on the bright side. He smiled, "You know, this is kind of the best karma ever."

Elizabeth looked at him, totally confused, "Karma? How is this karma?"

"Because you wanted to talk about if you died and me getting remarried!" Henry exclaimed.

Elizabeth burst out laughing, oh god he was so right! "That was mostly joking, to ease the tension!"

"Karma." Henry said simply.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and tried to contain her laughter, "So you knocked me up to get back at me for suggesting you remarry if I died?!"

"Yes, that was exactly my plan." He deadpanned but quickly got serious again; "Maybe it just means God always intended that you made it safely home from Iran?"

Elizabeth ran her hand down her husband's chest, "And that you and I have many more wonderful years together?"

Henry chuckled, "Many, _many_ more wonderful years together."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, "And Fred Cole's sacrifice was for his country and me...and this new little baby." She felt her eyes get watery and Henry immediately saw and pulled her close.

She held on tightly to Henry, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

"That must mean this kid is destined for greatness." She joked, trying to make the mood a little lighter so she didn't start sobbing.

Henry pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "'Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.' You, my darling, seem to fill all three of those categories."

Elizabeth blushed and rolled her eyes, "You already knocked me up, no more need for flattery."

Henry leaned in to kiss her forehead, "It's not flattery, it's just the truth."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Why do I love that you're so cheesy sometimes?"

Henry shrugged, "It's part of my charm." He paused, knowing what else they needed to talk about and thinking Elizabeth in this relaxed state was probably the best time to do it. "Babe, we really need to discuss our timeline. I think this is going to hit us all faster than we realize."

Elizabeth sighed and buried her head in his chest, "Yeah, I know you're right."

Henry tilted her chin up so she was looking at him, "So…telling the kids?"

Elizabeth groaned, "Literally, right now I'd rather negotiate a treaty between India and Pakistan rather than tell our children they're about to get another sibling."

Henry stifled a laugh, "Okay, I don't think it's going to be _that_ bad."

Elizabeth sighed, "We _have_ to wait until after my three month appointment. I need to know everything is at least progressing normally before we tell the kids. I don't think I could handle it if we told them and something happened…" She trailed off, not wanting to think about that situation.

Henry pulled her close and kissed her head tenderly. She took a deep breath and continued, "As for Conrad and my staff I'd prefer to wait until 4 months provided I'm not showing until then."

Henry smiled and reached down to caress her flat stomach, "I think you should be able to hide it for that long, you did with the other three."

Elizabeth chuckled, "Yeah, but I was also in my twenties and early thirties, I think it will be a little different now."

"You are going to be fine, babe. But you are going to have to start eating better."

Elizabeth groaned, "How about I just balance out all the crap I eat with some decent stuff?"

Henry laughed, "Yeah, that's not going to happen."

Elizabeth found herself grumpy at his comment, "Henry, food is all I have to de-stress at work. I need it."

Henry felt her body tense up and squeezed her tenderly, "I'm not saying give up your fries or your takeout, just cut back a bit and switch it up with fruit or smoothies, hey you love smoothies!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, she loved that he was trying to get her excited about eating better and she knew he was right but that didn't mean she was going to get excited about it. "Fine, just...talk to Blake about it. I'll be better if I don't even have the option of eating crap." She turned to Henry and he looked guilty. "Oh my god, you already talked to him!" She smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

"Hey, ow!" Henry said, "Babe, I'm sorry, but I'm trying my hardest not to add more stress to your life and talking to Blake felt like the best thing to do."

Elizabeth sighed, she couldn't be mad at him for this, she knew he was right and she knew he only did it because he loved her. She leaned in to kiss him, "I know and I love you for that."

"I know you do. Now go to bed, you need your sleep."

They both sank down into the covers, cuddled together and exchanging lazy kisses as they made themselves cozy.

"I love you, baby." Elizabeth whispered.

Henry's eyes were closed but he squeezed her gently, "I love you."

The next morning Elizabeth woke up feeling great but was immediately disheartened to find herself alone in their big bed. She threw on a pair of pajamas and a robe and headed downstairs to find Henry and Stevie cooking breakfast.

"Oh my god it smells glorious down here!" She exclaimed, "What are you guys making?"

Stevie looked up at her, "Blueberry waffles, fritatas, sausage, bacon, bagels and lox, if you want it, we're making it!"

Elizabeth laughed and walked over to her oldest daughter and kissed the side of her head, "Well, I am starving so I can't wait. When did you get home last night? I didn't hear you come in."

Stevie shrugged, "Not late, 12ish? Jason and Ali were still up but I didn't want to bother you guys."

"Honey, you could have woken us up. I like to know when you get home."

Stevie paused and pursed her lips as if she didn't know how to say what she needed to say, "You weren't sleeping." She finally said, her tone indicating she knew what they had been doing.

Henry's eyes grew wide and he mouthed, 'Whoops', to Elizabeth. Meanwhile she felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she figured it was best to leave the conversation at that.

"You have any plans today sweetie?"

Stevie shook her head, "Not until this afternoon. Why?"

"Well, I thought it might be nice to play a board game? We could do it after breakfast?"

Stevie nodded and smiled, "Yeah, that's cool."

Elizabeth helped Henry and Stevie bring the food to the table and Stevie announced she was going to wake up Alison and Jason."

As Stevie ascended the stairs Elizabeth walked over to Henry and wrapped her arms around his waist, "Why didn't you wake me up? You know how much I like waking up with you." She whined.

He reciprocated, pulling her body close to his own and giving her a light kiss on the lips. He pulled back just a little and smiled at her, "Because babe, you need all the sleep you can get and I wanted to make you a nice breakfast."

Elizabeth tried to suppress a pouty look. She groaned, "Ughh I can't even be mad at you for this because it's so sweet and thoughtful."

"That was the plan."

At that point all three kids bounded down the stairs and Elizabeth reluctantly pulled away from Henry. Alison was the last kid down the stairs and she looked like she was still half asleep. Elizabeth walked over to her and put her arm around Alison's shoulders, "Hey sleeping beauty, maybe you should get to bed earlier so you're not exhausted at 10 am?"

Alison managed a small smile, "I'm a teenager, I'm supposed to stay up late and sleep in late." She assessed her mother, "Hey, not fair, you look like you just woke up too."

Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, well for me sleeping in just means catching up on all the sleep I can't get because I work too much."

They walked over to the table and all sat down to dig into their meal, "So you don't have to work this weekend?" Jason asked his mother.

Elizabeth smiled, "Not unless there's some kind of crisis. So keep your fingers crossed."

Alison's eyes lit up, "Do you think we could go to the mall? I could really use some new practice clothes for soccer."

Elizabeth pursed her lips, she really wanted to go with Ali to the mall but she didn't want to risk getting sick while shopping. "Do you think we could go tomorrow morning? I was kind of hoping to spend all day in my pajamas."

Luckily Ali was fine with that, "Yeah, absolutely! Thanks Mom."

Elizabeth smiled and turned to Stevie and Jason, "What about you two? Care to join us?"

Stevie nodded, "Yeah, I'm up for the mall."

Jason laughed, "Shopping for clothing and makeup with these two? I'll pass."

Henry laughed, "You and I can find something else to do, buddy."

The morning went by quickly and they enjoyed the rare family time by playing monopoly and then Elizabeth, Henry and the girls decided to read in the living room while Jason played video games. Elizabeth so rarely got to read for pleasure and she was immensely enjoying herself until she felt her stomach turn. She squeezed her eyes shut, crap, she had put her morning sickness out of her mind. She got up as casually as she could and carefully made her way up the stairs, feeling more nauseous with each step. It only took Henry a minute to figure out what was happening and although he wanted to jump up and run after his wife he waited a moment so as not to alarm Stevie and Alison. He then casually made his way into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water for her and a stack of paper towels and then headed up the stairs and bolted into their bathroom. Sure enough his wife was clinging to their toilet. She looked pitiful, her face was pale and she squeezed her eyes shut as she heaved into the toilet. He grabbed a bag out of his sink cabinet before he sat down on the floor next to her and gently rubbed her back and held her hair, "Oh baby, I'm so sorry."

After a few moments she managed to look up from the toilet.

He handed her a paper towel and she flashed him a very small smile, "You are my hero."

He pointed to the water and the bag on the floor, "Water and peppermints for when you feel like it."

Elizabeth felt tears in her eyes, "You remembered that peppermint is the only thing that helps my nausea."

Henry grinned, "Of course I did. I've got another bag to send you to work with as well."

"Baby, I love you so much."

Henry just smiled and continued rubbing her back as another wave of nausea hit her. When it passed she sat back up, leaning against the cool wall. Henry handed her the bottle of water, "Drink up, please."

She took a big gulp, the cold water felt heavenly running down her throat.

Henry unwrapped a mint and handed it to her when she finished and she popped it in her mouth. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, letting the peppermint melt in her mouth.

Henry watched her intently, "You know, I can come to your office and sit with you while you're sick? I don't like the thought of you suffering through this alone in your office."

Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked at her sweet husband, his face was wrinkled with concern and although she appreciated his offer she couldn't make him do that. She shook her head, "Henry, I'll be fine. I've already dealt with it for a week and with any luck it won't last too much longer. And anyway I don't want you rushing over to the state department every day and then rushing back to get to your 2 o'clock class. I'd worry too much about you."

Henry reached over to squeeze her hand, "How about I come over once or twice a week? It'll just look like I'm having a late lunch with you."

Elizabeth nodded, "A lunch date complete with a little vomiting, how romantic."

"Well a lunch date with my beautiful, vomit-stricken wife is still a better lunch date than one with anyone else who is not vomit-stricken."

Elizabeth giggled, "You're so cheesy, Dr. McCord. But I love it and I love you."

Henry leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips before Elizabeth pulled back, "Oh my god, no, my breath must be putrid."

Henry laughed, "Yeah, it's disgusting babe, I'm going to scrub my mouth with toothpaste now but it was totally worth it."

Elizabeth laughed and whipped a peppermint at Henry as he got up to brush his teeth. She was the luckiest woman on earth to have found Henry McCord.

* * *

I'm really just having loads of fun writing this so I sincerely hope you're enjoying reading it! **Review pretty please?** They fuel my writing fire!

Also, I'm interested in knowing if you think the newest McCord should be a boy or a girl? (I've written for both but I'm leaning towards one.) Just leave me a comment saying boy or one saying girl and if you want explain your reasoning, I'd love to know! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Henry McCord was not the kind of person who panicked. Sure, he could lose his cool every once in a while but he rarely panicked. Today was one of those rare occasions. At breakfast Elizabeth had casually asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and the kids had exchanged jabs at him about his age He had laughed along initially but when they all had left for the day he felt the panic setting in. He was about to turn fifty one years old and they were expecting a baby. He was going to be a Dad for the fourth time at age fifty one and that was officially freaking him out. He tried to calm himself down. Plenty of men fathered children well past fifty one, granted none he knew personally, but he'd read about it in Alison's gossip magazines before.

Oh god, that couldn't be a good sign.

He needed to calm himself down. This was happening and he needed to be prepared. He decided he needed to start going to the gym more often. He went about once a week but he definitely needed to kick it up. He was in shape but when the baby was born he wasn't going to have time to even think about the gym. He also needed to eat better; they all needed to eat better. The McCord family collectively ate far too much takeout. He decided he was going to cook more. Ali and Stevie both liked to cook so he figured he could enlist their help in his quest for less takeout.

Okay, he had the start of a plan. That made him feel a little better. Just a little.

That night he cooked a slew of super healthy foods, quinoa, brown rice, kale and chicken. It had actually been a good meal so no one had complained. But when the onslaught of healthy meals continued throughout the week the kids started to complain and Elizabeth herself was craving dumplings so on Saturday she declared they were getting takeout and Henry opened his mouth to complain but found himself on the receiving end of one of Elizabeth's looks she usually reserved for putting foreign dignitaries in their places and so he decided to let her have what she wanted. She had been at work half the day and her nausea had gotten so bad she had just sent everyone home because she didn't want to have to even think about rallying from that mess. She was not in a good mood and all she wanted was dumplings.

After dinner she had been watching tv mindlessly with the kids and Henry had decided to go for a run. Elizabeth was concerned about him. He had already gone to the gym earlier during the day and now he was running. Henry was always a fit guy and while he was in the military he had exercised every day, but his current routine involved one to two visits to the gym per week and this was out of pattern.

A little while later Henry arrived back home and went to shower. Elizabeth decided to probe him a little to try and find out what was going on so she headed upstairs and found him drying off in the bathroom. She stood in the doorway and watched him for a minute. He looked so sexy. His wet skin glistened in the light and his towel was slung low around his hips. She bit her lip, god, this was how she ended up pregnant at 46, her damn husband was irresistible. She finally shook herself out of her stupor, "Hey baby, are you okay?"

Henry looked over to her, a goofy smile on his face evidencing his confusion by her random question, "I'm great babe, why?"

She shrugged, she didn't want to make Henry talk about this if he wasn't ready but she needed to probe a little deeper. "Well, you went to the gym earlier and then you went for a run…"

Henry pursed his lips as if he didn't quite know how to respond, "Well…I didn't run at the gym and it wasn't too cold out so I figured why not?"

Elizabeth wasn't buying it, "You've just been at the gym a lot this week and you've been on a healthy food kick so it seems like a little more than just making up for a missed run?"

Henry brushed her off; he didn't want her to have the burden of his stress to go along with her own. He walked toward her and kissed her forehead, "Babe, I'm just trying to be healthier." He walked into the closet and started putting on his clothes.

Elizabeth sighed; she didn't want to push him too much because he seemed stressed. It was fine; he would talk about it when he was ready. He always did. She walked into the bathroom and started taking off her jewelry. She decided to change the subject, "Will e-mailed me today."

Henry was in the middle of changing and therefore just sporting a pair of briefs and a t-shirt. He walked around the corner to face Elizabeth, "Oh god we have to tell our family about this baby." The initial shock of the pregnancy and the reality of their unchanging hectic lives had been enough to make him block out the idea of having to tell their extended families.

Elizabeth just nodded and sighed before walking into the bedroom and flopping down on their bed. This action made Henry smile and he moved over and sat next to her, running his hand gently over her back.

"You think we could just tell Erin and Shane and let them tell Maureen and your Dad, because I have enough stress in my life right now?"

Henry knew she was joking but a part of him wished they could do just that. Elizabeth had too much stress in her life as is and he didn't need his father and Maureen adding to that stress. "I'll tell them. You don't even have to be in the room with me when I do it and I'll tell them both not to bother you about it. You don't need any of the extra stress."

Elizabeth turned to face Henry and scooted up the bed enough so she could put her head in his lap, "No baby, while I appreciate the thought, that's not fair to you."

Henry ran a hand through her soft hair, "It's perfectly fair, you're carrying our baby, anything I can do to make your life easier I'm going to do."

Elizabeth felt tears threatening at her eyes, "I love you."

Henry smiled, running his hand through her hair, "I know."

Elizabeth laughed, her husband could be such a dork and she absolutely loved it.

Henry continued, "I think we should wait and tell the family at least until you tell your staff or are ready to tell the public because they are a bunch of Irish loud mouths and you know they won't be able to keep that secret."

Elizabeth giggled, it was funny, that was something she loved and hated about Henry's family all at once. "They won't be happy about that."

Henry shrugged, "So what? It's not about them, it's about you." He paused, "I bet Will could keep his mouth shut if you wanted to tell him?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "Three months, Henry. I can't tell anyone before three months."

Henry nodded, he understood her reasoning but he hated that fear was in the back of her mind and there was nothing he could do about it. He just had to wait it out with her.

"Also I don't think it would be fair to tell Will before we tell the kids." Elizabeth added, "And I don't think I'm going to have time to take a babymoon. I keep realizing I have more and more to do and I just don't think it's going to be possible."

Henry sighed and reached over for Elizabeth's hand and started rubbing circles over her palm in the way he knew soothed her, "I figured as much. That's okay, maybe we can take a three day weekend at the horse farm?"

"Yeah, I'd like that. Also I think we're finally going to fit in that goodwill visit to Turkey so maybe we can just bring all the kids and let them go crazy then take an extra day or two to do some family stuff?"

"We could take them to Bodrum and Ephesus? Remember the last time we were there?"

"Oh god when we did that sailing trip for our fifteenth anniversary and it was so calm that I thought I'd be okay without my sea band and I took it off and threw up all over the deck."

"And I fell in love with you all over again." Henry teased.

Elizabeth smacked him playfully on the chest, "Ass."

The next morning Elizabeth shot up in bed so dramatically that it awoke Henry. "Babe, what's going on? Are you all right?" He shot up just as quickly as she had; his brow was furrowed as he gently clutched her arm indicating she had worried him.

"I'm sorry, I'm fine, I promise. I just had a dream…" She trailed off and Henry's eyes immediately lit up.

"You mean you had the dream?" He asked excitedly.

Elizabeth smiled and ran her hand over her stomach, "Yeah…I think…though it's never happened this early before."

The dream Henry was referring to was the dream Elizabeth had during each one of her pregnancies. She would dream about a child and wake up with the overwhelming feeling that she knew the gender of their child. Henry usually teased her about it but it was something he believed in, she had been three for three so far.

Henry's eyes lit up, "So…what's the verdict?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips, she almost didn't want to say, it was just the dream usually happened at around three months and she was only at two.

Henry poked her side gently, "Come on babe, you can't leave me hanging!"

She turned to her husband and he looked like he was about to explode from excitement, like a kid at Disneyland. She laughed and reached out to take his hand, "Okay," she took a deep breath, she and Henry hadn't even had time to talk about whether they were hoping for a boy or a girl yet so she hoped she wasn't about to disappoint him, "my dream was about a little girl."

Henry's grew wide and he immediately pulled her in for a searing kiss, toppling them both back onto the bed so she was lying down once again. Henry then kissed his way down her body and when he got to her stomach he pulled her pajama shirt up and started kissing her stomach. Elizabeth just laughed at him, he was so damn sweet.

He looked up at her, his face radiating pure joy.

"I take it you're hoping for a girl?" Elizabeth teased.

Henry nodded, "Yes, although I would have been thrilled for a boy as well, there's just something profoundly special about being a precious little girl's Daddy."

"Well, just because I've been three for three in the past doesn't mean I'm right this time."

"Don't anger the voodoo!" Henry joked, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist and settling in next to her so he could pull her close.

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes and settled into the comfort of Henry's body, "Oh my god. You're so weird."

For the next week Henry continued his new obsession with being healthy and while Elizabeth was still dealing with nausea it had become more manageable and therefore put her in a much better mood. She was in such a good mood on one evening that she and Henry begun to discuss names.

"What do you think about the name Hannah?"

"Hannah," Henry repeated, "Hannah McCord." He smiled, "I like that. We should add it to the list."

Elizabeth smiled and typed Hannah onto the 'maybe' list on her phone.

"What about Katharine?"

"Spelled with an A like Hepburn?" He asked.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows; did he really need to ask such a silly question? "Of course."

Henry smiled, "Yes but I'd have to stipulate we only call her Katharine or Kate, no Katie."

"I agree. I _love_ the name Kate. I'm putting 'Katharine/Kate' on the 'maybe' list."

"How come you aren't suggesting any boy names?" Henry knew why, but he couldn't resist teasing her. She was, after all, the one who had told him her "feelings" weren't fool proof.

Elizabeth turned to her husband and flashed him a cheeky grin. She knew he was teasing her so she decided to throw it right back. "Because we're having a girl," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Henry laughed, "You don't know that, we don't get to find out for another few weeks." He shot back, thoroughly enjoying their banter.

Elizabeth just kept grinning, "Don't anger the voodoo, Henry." She taunted, echoing his words from the other night.

Henry burst out laughing, she had definitely just won. "Isabelle." He said, acknowledging his defeat.

Elizabeth cocked her head, "You mean after Isabelle?"

Henry shrugged, "She is one of your closest friends."

Elizabeth smiled, "Isabelle." She thought about it. "I did always like that name. We could call her Izzie."

"Izzie McCord. That's pretty adorable. We could always spell it differently? Take off the L and E at the end? Or switch it up even more and spell it I-S-O-B-E-L?"

Elizabeth gave that a thought. I like the spelling with the O but I also like the original spelling. I'm adding it to the list Isabelle/Isobel."

Henry grinned, "Good."

"What about Ellie?"

Elizabeth frowned, "That's more of a nickname."

"Okay, Ellie can be short for Elizabeth."

Elizabeth didn't respond verbally, she just raised her eyebrows indicating she was not amused.

Henry laughed, "You know women can do that too. I thought you were a feminist?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on the shoulder, "How about we just name her Henrietta then?" She teased.

Henry made a gagging sound that made Elizabeth burst out laughing, "I am not inflicting that name on a child. Henrietta is a definite no. I'm invoking veto power."

Elizabeth couldn't contain her laughter, veto power had been something they implemented way back before Stevie was born. It meant the name was a definite no and they each only got 5 vetoes.

"Are we bringing back veto power?"

Henry nodded, "I think we're going to have to if you keep suggesting names like Henrietta."

"Okay fine but I'm vetoing Elizabeth then."

Henry's face fell, "What?! Come on! Those two aren't even in the same category! Elizabeth is a beautiful name while Henrietta makes me think of an elderly woman."

"Like Hetty on NCIS:LA, you love her!" Elizabeth said, thoroughly enjoying teasing him about this name.

Henry shook his head, "While I do have a soft spot for Hetty Lange, I'm pretty sure Hetty is worse than Henrietta. Do I really have to say it again? VETO. Come on, just think about Elizabeth. We could call her Ellie or Ella or Eliza or even by a middle name?"

Elizabeth listened to Henry as she tried to stop laughing. She finally calmed down and looked back over at him, his eyes pleading with her to allow Elizabeth into the mix.

She sighed, "Fine. I won't veto Elizabeth...just yet. I'm not adding it to the list either."

Henry held up his hands in a gesture of concession, "Okay, that sounds fair."

"How about Caroline?" Elizabeth asked, needing to move on.

Henry thought about it, "Caroline McCord." He said, testing it out.

Suddenly the door opened and Alison came barging in, "Hey guys!" She said happily. "Who is Caroline McCord?"

"A distant relative of your Dad's." Elizabeth quickly lied; she would have never guessed how useful spy training would have been when it came to parenting.

Alison shrugged and started talking about soccer practice and her upcoming game and Elizabeth and Henry breathed sighs of relief she hadn't asked any more questions on the subject.

Later that night they were lying in bed together still discussing names.

"Okay so what if I am totally wrong and we're going to have a boy?"

"Easy, James Paul McCord," Henry said quickly.

Elizabeth laughed, "Did we not exhaust this James Paul McCord business before Jason was born? We are not naming our child after Paul McCartney. That's _way_ too much pressure."

Henry laughed, "I know but it would be such a great name. McCartney…McCord, the opportunity is staring us in the face."

"Fine, you know what, if I am wrong about this baby being a girl we will name this kid James Paul McCord and you are responsible for his therapy when he tries to become a musician and can't deal with the burden of the Paul McCartney comparison."

"I think I'm going to make you sign a contract saying that." Henry teased.

Elizabeth playfully smacked him.

Henry just laughed, "Okay how about Christine? We could call her Chrissy?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "That's okay, what about Sarah?"

"Olivia?"

"Anna?"

"Harper?"

"Rachel?"

They went back and forth for a while without much luck.

"Okay, we have a while to go, how about we chill out with this naming business and ask the kids for suggestions when we tell them?" Elizabeth ventured.

"I think that's a good idea, it will at least make them feel more included in the whole process."

Elizabeth sighed, "Yeah, because I have a sinking feeling telling them about this baby is just not going to go over well. At least with Stevie and Jason, I can see Ali either having the best reaction or the worst, no middle ground with the dramatic teenager."

Henry chuckled, "Yeah well let's just enjoy our little bubble of secrecy for a little longer and not worry about how we're going to tell the kids until after your appointment. I think we can both agree we don't need any more stress."

The next few days were especially hectic, Elizabeth had barely been home and Henry was running himself ragged between all the term papers he had to grade, his daily dose of exercise, and moonlighting for the NSA.

On Wednesday afternoon he arrived home a little after 4 and was kind of grateful that he had the house to himself. He had just run to the pharmacy to pick up more of Elizabeth's neo-natal vitamins after a full morning at work and a solid hour at the gym. He set the bag on the counter so he could put his keys and jacket away and as he was setting his bag on the counter it nudged the bag and knocked it over so the bottle rolled out of the bag and off the counter onto the floor. The bottle rolled and landed under the table. Henry bent down to pick it up just as Stevie walked in. He grabbed the bottle quickly, stood up and made sure to cover the label with his hand.

"Hey Dad!" Stevie said brightly, although her expression changed when she saw the look on his face. "Are you okay?"

Henry managed a small smile, "Yeah, I'm fine sweetheart. What are you doing home so early?"

Stevie looked confused but went along with his question, "I didn't have study group today so I came home."

Stevie looked down and saw the bottle in his hand, "Oh, did you get more vitamin e? We ran out this morning." She reached out for the jar but Henry pulled it away from her, "No these aren't vitamins, well, they are but they're different. They're…for me."

Stevie frowned, what the hell was going on with her Dad? "Okay...Dad are you sure you're okay?"

Henry finally managed to relax a bit, "I'm sorry sweetheart. I'm just exhausted. It's been a long day. I'm going to go take a quick power nap before dinner." With that he bounded up the staircase leaving Stevie at the bottom of the stairs looking completely confused.

He quickly ripped the label off the bottle and tore it apart before dumping the pills into a decorative jar Elizabeth had taken to putting the pills in. They had just over two weeks to go before they told the kids and Henry prayed every day that nothing would happen to their little miracle. He walked into their bedroom and opened his bedside table drawer. That was where they hid the ultrasound photos. He picked one up and he couldn't help the huge smile that broke out on his face. He couldn't believe that after doing this for the first time twenty-one years ago that they were doing it again. It seemed surreal. As much as he enjoyed teasing her about it, he really hoped Elizabeth's gut was correct and that they were indeed having another little girl. It wasn't that another boy wouldn't be a blessing, but there was something beautiful about raising a little girl that he was keen to relive.

Stevie stood at the bottom of the stairs, completely confused by what had just happened with her father. She had noticed a slight change in his demeanor the past couple weeks and it was beginning to concern her. Pills, eating healthy, working out…was he sick? Just thinking about something happening to her Dad made her feel sick to her stomach. But her parents usually talked to the family if something was going on with them. If something was wrong with her Dad surely they would have brought it up? Maybe he was just having anxiety about his fifty-first birthday coming up? She hoped that was it.

She decided to confront her mother about it, she needed at least the reassurance that her Dad wasn't sick and she knew her mother wouldn't be able to deny her that peace of mind.

Later that night Stevie walked downstairs to find her mother slurping noodles from a takeout container. "Hey Mom," she said, casually grabbing some ice cream from the freezer and standing across the counter from her mother. "Did you pick that up on your way home from work?" Henry had ordered them all salads for dinner they all made a big deal about grumbling about it.

Elizabeth looked guilty, "Please don't tell Dad."

Stevie stifled a laugh, "I swear." She paused, she figured now was as good a time as any to ask about her Dad, "What is going on with Dad?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips, she didn't know how to respond to Stevie's question so she acted like she had no idea what she was talking about, "What do you mean?"

Stevie sighed and rolled her eyes, "Come on Mom, he's freaking out about something. Is it about turning fifty-one? I mean, that doesn't really make sense considering he was fine with turning fifty but I don't know what else it could be about?" That was obviously a lie but she couldn't say out loud that she was afraid her Dad was sick.

Elizabeth saw the worry in her daughter's eyes and walked around the counter and put her arm around her, "Sweetie, he's fine. I promise. Dad is fine; he's just stressed about work. He's not freaking out." Well, she thought to herself, that last part was a flat out lie. Henry was definitely freaking out but she couldn't divulge to Stevie the exact reasons just yet.

Stevie rolled her eyes, "Mom, he's forcing kale and quinoa down our throats every meal and he went to the gym."

Elizabeth laughed, "Sweetie, he goes to the gym every week."

"Yeah, _once_ a week, lately he's been going every day."

Elizabeth shrugged, "He just wants to stay healthy. Stevie, I promise there is nothing wrong with your Dad."

"But then what's with all the anxiety? It's like he's completely on edge."

Elizabeth smiled and stood up to wrap an arm around her daughter. She couldn't tell her daughter Henry was moonlighting for the NSA and she couldn't tell her about the baby so tried to console Stevie as best as she could, "Sweetheart, Dad is fine. I promise you. If anything were wrong I swear we would tell you. He's just got a lot on his mind lately and maybe he is a little anxious about turning fifty-one. He didn't freak out when he turned fifty so he's due for a little moment of panic. He's fine. I promise."

Stevie didn't look convinced but she nodded and hugged her mother anyway before she left to start her homework.

Elizabeth headed upstairs; she needed to talk to Henry. She didn't like that Stevie was so worried about her father and she figured she had given Henry enough time to work though this, now it was time to talk. She found him in the bathroom getting ready to shower and she closed the door behind her.

He looked up at her, eyebrows raised, "You looking to join me in the shower?"

Elizabeth laughed and walked toward him, running her hand down his soft-shirt, "I would love to shower with you…but you have to do one thing for me first…"

Henry leaned in and kissed her jaw, "Anything for you, babe."

She pulled back from him so she could look him in the eye, "Baby, what is going on with you? You're going to the gym almost every day, you're not eating takeout, you've got all this anxiety…and Stevie is starting to get worried about you. I know you want to stay healthy but Henry, all this anxiety is not healthy. What is really going on?"

Henry groaned and pulled his wife closer, burying his head in her neck.

Elizabeth giggled, "Baby, come on, tell me what's going on?"

He just groaned again and she couldn't stop herself from giggling again, "How about the sooner you tell me what's going on, the sooner we get to have sex?"

Henry pulled back and Elizabeth grinned cheekily, she loved that after 28 years together they still wielded that kind of power over each other. He sighed, "Babe, I'm turning 51 in a few weeks."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, "Yes, thank you for that. We've only been together for 28 years and I had no idea how old you are or when your birthday is."

Henry laughed, "I mean, I'm turning 51 and we are about to have a new baby. When this kid graduates high school I'm going to be almost 70."

Elizabeth reached out and ran a hand through her husband's hair, "Baby, you are in better shape than heaps of men half your age. You've been healthy your whole life and you've lived a good life, God's going to want to keep you here for a long time."

"I'm just scared that I'm getting old and I'm not going to be able to be there for this kid in the same way I've been there for the other kids."

Elizabeth sighed, "Henry, you can't think about that. You just have to know that you're going to do the best you can and that's going to have to be enough. You can't predict the future but you can focus on what's good now. We're having a baby! I know we're old but I don't care! We get to be excited about this!"

Henry couldn't help the smile forming on his face and he reached down between them and placed his hand on Elizabeth's still flat belly.

Elizabeth felt a wave of relief rush over her that she had gotten through to him. She reached up to cup his cheek, "And Henry, you are the best Dad any kid could ever ask for. Who cares what age you'll be at her graduation? She's going to love you so much just because you're you."

Henry leaned in to rest his forehead against hers and smiled, "I love you so much, babe. This little girl is so lucky you're her Mom."

Elizabeth now had a goofy grin on her face.

"What is that look for?" Henry asked.

"I think that's the first time you've directly admitted that you agree with me that we're having a girl without teasing me."

"Of course I know you're right, I just like to mess with you." He said before going in for a searing kiss.

After a minute Elizabeth pulled away from him, causing him to groan.

"Okay, just one more thing, can you please cut the gym visits a little bit because you can't gain muscle while I get fat. That's really going to piss me off."

Henry burst out laughing, "Deal as long as you stop talking and take your clothes off."

"Deal," Elizabeth said with a laugh, her nimble fingers already halfway down the buttons on her blouse.

Later in the week Stevie decided she wasn't fully content with her mother's deflection of her father's health kick and all-around anxious demeanor. He had gotten better the last few days but she was still concerned. She decided she was going to snoop. She didn't like the idea but she didn't feel like there was anything else she could be doing.

Saturday afternoon she knocked on the door of her parent's bedroom to find her mother reading a book in bed. She looked a little pale but she smiled at Stevie and invited her inside. "Hey sweetie, what's going on?"

"I think I pulled a muscle at yoga this morning, I couldn't find the microwaveable wrap downstairs so I thought you guys might have it?" That was mostly a made up excuse, she really just wanted to get into her parent's bathroom so she could double check that the pills she had seen with her Dad actually were vitamins and he wasn't hiding being sick.

"Oh yeah, I think it's in one of Dad's drawers, you can look for it in there." Elizabeth said, waving Stevie into the bathroom.

Stevie walked into her parents' bathroom and started quietly scouring for the pill bottle she had seen him with. She made sure to make a little noise in the drawers so her mother would think she was actually searching for the wrap. It was then that she noticed what looked like a photo sitting hiding behind a candle. She reached for it and the minute she saw what was on the photo she felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach. She suddenly forgot all about the wrap and her quest to find the pills.

She walked back into her parent's bedroom, "Mom, why is there a sonogram picture in your bathroom?"

* * *

So the thing about Elizabeth having a dream and a feeling about the baby's gender, that's something I got from my Mom. She's 5 for 5. With my younger sister they actually told my parents she was going to be a boy and according to my Dad my Mom simply responded, "No, it's a girl." There was a whole thing about it and of course my Mom was right. My Dad calls it "Island Voodoo" but my Puna says it's a spiritual connection with Haumea, who in Hawaiian mythology is the goddess of fertility. Obviously the McCord's are not Hawaiian, but it's not a Hawaiian thing it's just a my family thing and we happen to be Hawaiian. But I just always thought it was really interesting so I wanted to include it.

To be clear, I still haven't officially decided boy vs. girl. Elizabeth could be wrong you know. "Gut feelings" are not scientifically proven!

 **ANYWAY, let me know what you think pretty please? Review, favorite, follow (or if you do all of the above I'll love you forever) and give me some validation because hey, I'm a human being and I can't help that I need it sometimes!** Also I usually talk about updates on tumblr so if you follow me there (same name as here) I usually update you about when I'm going to update.


	4. Chapter 4

" _Mom, why is there a sonogram picture in your bathroom?"_

Stevie's words echoed in her ears and Elizabeth froze in her spot. She struggled to figure out what to say, she turned to face Stevie and when she spoke her voice was soft and hoarse, "Where did you find that?"

Stevie frowned, "It was sitting behind a candle on your sink."

Elizabeth closed her eyes; dammit she had forgotten she had put it there the other night. The kids were never in her bathroom so she had figured it would be safe enough. She had to tell Stevie the truth; the damn thing had the date on it so lying would only make things worse.

She took a deep breath, "Dad and I have a sonogram picture in our bathroom…because I'm pregnant."

Stevie's mouth dropped open, "You're…you're pregnant?" She wanted to burst out laughing and simultaneously burst out crying. This didn't seem like it could actually be real life. She didn't know what else to say, she was in total shock.

Elizabeth jumped up off her bed and walked around it so she was a few feet in front of Stevie, "Sweetheart, this wasn't something Dad and I planned on, it just happened. I'm so sorry to have hid this from you. But I'm 46 and this pregnancy is high risk so Dad and I decided it would be the best for everyone if we waited until I was three months along. We were going to tell you guys in a couple weeks because we needed to make sure everything was progressing as it should."

Stevie still looked like she was in shock, "So…you're two and a half months pregnant…I'm going to have a baby sister or brother?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, in approximately six and a half months you're going to have a new little sister or brother."

Stevie didn't even know how to react, she just looked at the sonogram photo one more time and then turned to put it on her Dad's dresser, "I'm sorry…I can't…" she said as she bolted out of the room.

Elizabeth didn't know how to deal with this. Stevie hadn't had a verbal freak out like Elizabeth had been expecting, that was good, but she also clearly wasn't taking the news well.

Elizabeth ran after her daughter to her bedroom. She knocked on the closed door, "Stevie please, can we just talk about this?"

Stevie didn't answer but Elizabeth wasn't going to take this from her oldest child. She opened the door and found Stevie sitting cross-legged on her bed, head in her hands.

"Stevie, talk to me, please?" She asked, moving to sit down next to her daughter.

Stevie sighed and let out a nervous laugh, "What's there to talk about? Our lives were finally settling into some strange form of normalcy and you and Dad have to go turn everything upside down again."

Elizabeth's heart broke for her eldest, "Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Dad and I didn't plan for this to happen. It just…happened."

Stevie scoffed, "You know, it's pretty ridiculous when your parents embarrassed the hell out of you after you started going out with your first boyfriend with the whole condoms and birth control talk but apparently can't figure out how to use those things themselves."

Elizabeth pursed her lips, that blow cut a little deep but she couldn't deny it, "Okay, we deserve that, you're right. Dad and I should have been a little more careful. But we didn't consider this to be a real option for us, Stevie." She paused, mentally preparing herself to be completely honest with Stevie, "We talked through our options and we decided we're going to have this baby. I realize this affects you and your brother and sister but that's a conversation where only Dad and I have a say. This is happening and I'd like for you to be okay with it."

Stevie turned to look at her mother, surprise painted all over her face, "You thought about getting an abortion?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath and nodded, she was going with this complete honesty thing, "It...it was an option. We had to consider the health risks for me and the baby and we had to consider the effect a new baby would have on our family. We had to be sure we could handle this not only physically but emotionally as well."

Stevie was silent for a moment, just looking at her mother, assessing her in a way. She finally spoke, "I appreciate you being honest with me, but can I just have a little bit of time alone to think about this?"

Elizabeth nodded and ran her hand through Stevie's hair, "Yeah, of course sweetheart. You can come talk to me when you're ready."

Elizabeth headed back to her bedroom not knowing what to think about her interaction with Stevie. She felt a little nauseous and she also kind of wanted to cry, so she crawled into bed and popped a peppermint into her mouth and shut her eyes. So she lay there and tried to calm herself down, using Henry's meditation suggestion. She hated how well it was working.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to find Stevie standing above her.

Elizabeth sat up in bed, her heart leapt at how calm Stevie looked, and she motioned for Stevie to sit down next to her.

Stevie sighed, "Mom, I'm really sorry for the way I reacted. I was in shock. It was out of line for me to accuse you guys of not knowing how to use birth control."

Elizabeth chuckled, "No, sweetie it was fine. I mean, technically you were right. We didn't think it was something we needed to worry about and we were wrong."

Stevie nodded, "Um, you guys didn't consider an abortion because you thought Ali, Jason and I would react badly...did you?" She asked timidly, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer.

"No, no sweetie I'm so sorry if I made you think that, we were just…we were worried about forcing you guys to grow up faster than you already have but mostly it was about whether or not Dad and I could handle this pregnancy both physically and emotionally."

Stevie sighed in relief, "Good. I mean I would hate it if you made that decision based on us reacting badly because that's not fair. It's your body and you shouldn't have to think about what anyone else wants, your choices should be about what's best for you."

Elizabeth smiled and pulled her daughter close, "Thank you sweetheart."

They stayed like that for a minute; Elizabeth felt a huge weight lifted off her. Stevie wasn't thrilled but she managed to have an adult reaction and Elizabeth was beyond proud of her eldest.

After a few minutes Stevie pulled back, "Oh my god, this is why Dad is acting crazy."

Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Your Dad is struggling a little bit. He's very happy about the baby but he's panicking about being an old Dad."

"Now I feel kind of bad. I haven't exactly been making it easy for him."

"You were worried about him, don't feel bad about that. He's scared that he won't be able to be there for this kid the way he's been there for you and your brother and sister. He just needs to work through it."

Stevie nodded, "Okay," she paused, trying to find the right words, "I'm not sure how I feel about all this yet...is that okay?"

"Yes, sweetheart of course. I don't expect you to suddenly be happy and excited about this, it's a big change. Our lives are going to be very different. You get all the time you need to process this, that's the least of what I owe you."

Stevie smiled and leaned in to hug her Mom again, "Thanks Mom, I appreciate that."

Elizabeth clung to her daughter; grateful she was willing to talk through all this instead of shutting down.

Stevie finally spoke, "So...do you know if you're having a boy or a girl?"

Elizabeth smiled, "No, we don't find out for a few weeks."

"I meant, do you _know_?"

Elizabeth laughed, "You remembered my gut feelings?"

Stevie laughed, "Oh come on how could I forget that? Dad's told those stories quite a few times."

"Yeah, your Dad loves to tease me about those."

"So...did you have the feeling yet?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips, contemplating what she should say to her daughter. She hadn't planned on telling any of the kids what she felt before they found out for sure, she also hadn't counted on them remembering her little trick, but she couldn't lie to Stevie. Her kids deserved honesty from their parents. "Okay…I feel like you're going to have a little sister."

Stevie just sat there for a moment, wrapping her head around the idea of a baby sister. Some of the ambivalence she felt about getting another sibling suddenly dropped away. The idea of having a baby sister didn't sound like the worst thing in the world. She grinned at her mother, "A little sister actually kind of sounds okay."

Elizabeth pulled Stevie close once again, "You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear."

Stevie wrapped her arms around her mother and snuggled into her side, "How are you doing with all this?"

Elizabeth felt tears threatening at her eyes and she sniffled, "I'm happy but to be honest I'm a little scared, kiddo."

Stevie adjusted herself so she could look up at her mother, "I know I don't tell you that as often as I should but you're an amazing Mom and you're an amazing Secretary of State and no matter what this kid is going to be lucky to have you."

Now Elizabeth was full on crying, "Thanks kiddo, that means a lot coming from you. This kid is going to be really lucky to have you too."

Stevie now felt kind of bad, she didn't mean to make her mother so upset. "Mom, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to upset you."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, "Oh baby, no it's not you. I'm sorry; this is all just a little overwhelming. I really thought we were long done with having kids so this is taking a little longer than normal to wrap my head around."

Henry had arrived home a few minutes earlier and when he walked into his and Elizabeth's bedroom he was immediately concerned fro find his wife crying on the bed and his daughter hugging her. He immediately dropped his gym bag and ran over to his wife, "Babe, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Elizabeth attempted to compose herself and looked up at Henry. She grabbed onto his hand, "I'm fine baby. But…Stevie knows."

Henry's eyes grew wide, "Stevie...um..." He turned to face their daughter, "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Stevie nodded, "I'm fine, Dad. Still in shock but I'm coming around to this idea."

Henry breathed a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding in, "Are you sure kiddo? We don't expect you to be thrilled about this whole deal."

Stevie smiled, "Yeah, I mean I'm not thrilled, but I'll come around. I just need some time to process."

Henry squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder; he was so incredibly proud of how adult Stevie was acting.

"I mean who knows, maybe it'll be great? Now that I'm older I can probably appreciate a baby sibling better." She paused, "So…I'm guessing you don't want me to tell Ali and Jason yet?"

Elizabeth and Henry both shook their heads, "No sweetheart we would appreciate it if you could keep this news to yourself for a couple weeks. Right now the only people that know are you, me, Dad and Blake."

Stevie stifled a laugh, of course Blake knew, poor guy.

"Seriously though sweetheart, we want you to be okay with this whole process so if you ever need to talk to us or just…anything, we want you to feel comfortable enough to come to us."

Stevie smiled, "Don't worry, I will. I love you guys and…" she paused, "…and I'm happy for you."

Elizabeth had tears in her eyes as she turned to look at Henry and squeezed his hand, "Thanks kid, we're pretty happy too."

Stevie finding out turned out to be a good thing for both Elizabeth and Henry. She had been helping her Dad make dinner, covering for her Mom when Ali or Jason noticed her doing something out of the ordinary, and was helping her Dad make sure her Mom didn't sneak any regular coffee. She hadn't talked to her parents about what was happening and they weren't sure if it was because she was trying to keep their secret or if she was still processing everything, but they took her helpfulness as a sign that she was coming around to this big change and hoped once Alison and Jason found out they could all be more open about their feelings.

A week later Elizabeth came home very late one night to find Henry still reading in bed. She was grateful he was still up as she had something to tell him she knew he wasn't going to like. He immediately saw how exhausted she was and set his book down and opened his arms.

Elizabeth practically fell onto him and sunk into the comfort of his body. He wrapped his arms around her and gently rubbed circles over her back.

Elizabeth sighed, she was so exhausted and so emotional and she just wanted to stay like this forever. "Baby, can you please unhook my bra? My boobs are killing me."

Henry pursed his lips, trying his hardest not to laugh because he really didn't want to make her cry. He reached under her blouse and unhooked her bra. She let out an immediate sigh of relief, "Oh god that feels so much better already."

"I think you need to start investing in some new clothes, babe." Henry said, hoping his suggestion didn't set her off.

She groaned into his shoulder, "I popped a button on my blouse today. I was sitting on my desk talking to Nadine and dropped my pen and as I bent over to pick it up the top button just flew off." Elizabeth paused, "I think Nadine knows. She caught me throwing up the other day, she keeps walking in on Blake and me talking about appointment scheduling, oh and then I went off on Jay yesterday and then when he walked out of my office I cried. She gave me that look, like she knew that I knew that she knew, or at the very least she suspects something is going on with me. She might not know I'm pregnant, she could just think I'm sick or something. Is it really messed up that I kind of hope she thinks I'm just sick?"

Henry couldn't help his laughter this time, "She'll find out in time babe and you can trust Nadine, even if she does suspect something she's not going to say anything until you confirm."

"That's probably true," Elizabeth said as she reluctantly got off Henry. She needed to get into some comfortable clothes immediately. She walked into the bathroom and started taking her jewelry off, "So I have to go to Norway for a couple days."

Henry immediately put his books down and walked into the bathroom, "Why do you have to go to Norway?"

Elizabeth sighed, "Conrad is worried about the war games we're conducting offshore and he wants me to attend a leadership conference thing they're hosting. It's just a speech, nothing big."

Henry shook his head, "That doesn't make any sense. If it's about war games he should be sending the Secretary of the Navy or the Secretary of Defense, why are you going?"

"Because he doesn't want it to seem like we're nervous about them possibly declining to let us hold them along their borders. The conference really doesn't have anything to do with that, he just wants their president to not have any reason to suddenly revoke our invitation and therefore I must work my diplomacy magic."

Henry didn't really want her traveling but it was just Norway, it was definitely one of the more safe places she could travel, "Fine, but you're telling your lead detail."

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, for God's sake Henry, it's Norway, they have like one crime per year there. I don't think we have anything to worry about and Blake knows. He'll be there with me and if I do have an issue he's there to help."

Henry gritted his teeth. He didn't like this, he thought her agents should know but at the same time he didn't want to piss her off. She had been really on edge the last week and he didn't want to add to any of her problems. "Fine, I'm coming with you."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up and she turned toward him, "Seriously?"

"Yes, I'll find a sub, I'm coming with you. Poor Blake does not need to babysit you the whole trip."

Elizabeth shot him a death glare, "I don't need someone to babysit me."

"Whatever, either way I'm coming with you."

Elizabeth wanted to be angry at him for thinking she needed him to watch over her but she was so happy he was coming with that she didn't really care. She turned toward him and wrapped her arms around him, "Wow, if I'd known getting knocked up would be enough to get you to come on all my trips with me I would have done it much earlier," she joked.

Henry rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss her, "You're insane."

The Norway trip had started off well. It was only three days and involved a lot of low-key functions, which was very good for Elizabeth. She was enjoying this fairly relaxing (at least for her job) trip until the last day. Something she had to eat, or maybe just something she had smelled, she wasn't quite sure which, had made her violently ill. She felt absolutely terrible even after she had stopped throwing up.

Henry didn't like this, of course it had happened with all three of the other kids and the foods that made her sick had always changed, but considering the high-risk nature of her pregnancy he had wanted to call Dr. Bell and just check in. This had been what really set Elizabeth off. She had screamed at Henry about how she was fine and he needed to trust her instincts. She had been so pissed off that when they got on her plane she had actually locked him out of her office.

Daisy and Matt were embroiled in some personal problem and therefore not paying attention to anyone else, Blake had made himself scarce so as to not get pulled into the argument, but Nadine hadn't missed a beat. Henry sat down in the conference room and Nadine followed.

"Dr. McCord, I don't mean to pry into anything personal…" she trailed off, she didn't know how to phrase this, "but is the secretary all right?"

Henry looked up at Nadine, her expression full of concern, and he couldn't lie to her. Nadine was Elizabeth's chief of staff and she had so far proven that she could be trusted.

He sighed, "First of all, can you please call me Henry?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Nadine smiled, "I'll consider it, is the secretary all right?" She couldn't be distracted.

Henry looked around, making sure no one was close enough to hear what he was saying. Elizabeth was already angry with him and him telling Nadine was just going to amplify her anger but right now he just didn't care. She was stressing herself out far too much and Nadine was the one who could lighten the load. "She's fine…I mean well, she's not sick." He paused, "She's pregnant."

Nadine's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head but she kept her cool. She then breathed a sigh of relief, "Wow, that was…unexpected. I was afraid she was sick. I'm happy that's not the case." Nadine trailed off and then turned back to Henry, "I guess congratulations are in order…" She phrased it as a question, unsure if the McCord's were happy or not about this surprise.

Henry smiled, "Yeah, thank you, it took us a little while but we're happy about it."

Nadine smiled, "That's good. I'm happy for you both. I assume Blake knows?"

Henry laughed, "Yeah, poor kid doesn't get paid nearly enough for all he's had to do for her."

Just then Elizabeth poked her head out of her office door. She called for Henry in a soft and timid voice and when Henry turned to see her he noticed her face was tear-stained. He jumped up and ran into her office, "Baby, are you okay?"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. Damn hormones," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Henry breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms protectively around his wife. He hated to ruin the moment-and most likely piss her off all over again-but he had to tell her Nadine knew. "Babe, I told Nadine. She was afraid you were sick and I just couldn't let her think that, it felt too cruel." He braced himself for another wave of anger but it never came.

Elizabeth sighed against his chest, "I probably should have told her a month ago."

Henry was in total and complete shock, "No babe, you wanted to wait and that's understandable. But she needed to know at this point. You're at three months and everything is progressing normally but that doesn't mean you can continue to stress yourself out. Nadine is the one who can help with all that, it's good she knows."

Elizabeth nodded against Henry's strong chest, "I'm sorry I'm such a mess right now."

Henry kissed the top of her head, "Don't apologize, I can take all the yelling and crying you want to throw at me. You're going through a lot right now and I don't want you to worry about me. Remember we've done this three times before, I can handle whatever you throw at me."

Elizabeth laughed, "I love you so much, baby."

* * *

I struggled with how to write Stevie's reaction. Literally yesterday I thought it was finished and then I just gutted it. I decided on writing her as the more mature adult child she's become this season because honestly I couldn't stand her first season. And I mean...I was a kid who caused far more than my share of problems for my parents so I have a higher tolerance for that stuff. She was just...grating. I dunno...moving on!

Not sure how my updating schedule is gonna go, I'm on vacation so depends on what free time I have.

 **Also, do me a favor and tell me a name (or names) you love! Boy or girl names, still haven't _officially_ decided! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Elizabeth and Henry were enjoying a rare night of cooking together. Elizabeth was stirring some pasta at the stove and Henry had his arms wrapped around her middle and he kept kissing her neck and teasing her about ruining the pasta.

Stevie came downstairs and although she noticed her parents she didn't say anything about the love fest going on between them, they were going to have another baby and they deserved to be happy. She hadn't fully come around to the idea of a new sibling but she was getting there. She decided to help by setting the table and just ignored her touchy-feely parents.

She was able to ignore them until Ali came down the stairs, "Seriously? Can you two ever keep your hands to yourselves?" Alison groaned and her parents just rolled their eyes and ignored her.

Stevie punched Alison lightly on the arm, "Shut up, leave them alone! Don't you want to be their age and still madly in love?"

Alison turned to Stevie, completely confused as to why her sister was defending their parents, "Yeah of course I do, but I also want to think I'd be considerate enough to not get hot and heavy in front of my children."

Stevie rolled her eyes, "Calm down, they're barely doing anything."

"Since when are you defending them?"

Stevie shrugged, "I'm picking my battles Ali, this is one you will never win."

Ali pursed her lips and turned back to look at her parents. They were cute together and though she did hope to be that in love with her husband when she was their age, she still didn't want to see it, but maybe Stevie was right and this was just a battle they'd never win. She started helping her sister set the table but she kept an eye on her parents. Her Dad was standing behind her Mom, his arms wrapped tightly around her as he whispered things in her ear that seemed to have her in continuous laughter. Ali smiled just a little, if they weren't her parents she would find them adorable. Both of them had seemed particularly stressed lately so she supposed it was nice to see them looking carefree. She had been a little concerned about them as of late. They seemed to have more hushed conversations that they would immediately halt if one of their children happened to be around, more than usual at least. Not to mention her Dad being extra healthy all of a sudden. It was strange and it made her feel uneasy, like something was wrong with one of them. But she pushed that idea out of her head, if one of her parents was having a medical problem they would tell the family, wouldn't they?

Two weeks later Elizabeth finally had her 12 week checkup and Dr. Bell had informed her and Henry that so far Elizabeth was doing well and her pregnancy was strong and healthy, meaning it was time to tell Alison and Jason. She had been forced to push her 12 week checkup to 13 weeks because of a crisis at work and she hated to admit that made a part of her happy. Telling the kids was undoubtedly going to be an ordeal and she felt guilty that she wanted to put it off but truthfully she needed this extra week of calm. Stevie had become almost like Henry's ghost, scolding her mother for slurping down takeout when her father wasn't around and while she appreciated the fact that her oldest daughter was getting onboard with this baby, all the attention kind of pissed her off and she was fairly certain Ali would love being her father's third set of eyes. Elizabeth and Henry had decided to tell Ali and Jason over dinner so Elizabeth made it a priority to be home. As she walked into the house she Elizabeth felt sick to her stomach. She didn't know how she was going to react if they both had bad reactions to this news. She walked into the kitchen to find Henry puttering around. He was cooking lasagna for dinner, which was a favorite of the kids'.

He was finishing up when she walked in and he noticed she looked pale. "Babe? Are you nervous or are you still having that much of a problem with nausea?"

She shook her head, "The first one. The nausea hasn't been bad lately."

He smiled and pulled her to him, kissing her sweetly. "It will be fine. Don't stress yourself out, whatever happens, happens. We can get through it."

She smiled; she really did have the best husband.

Henry finished up dinner and called the kids down. They had a great family dinner full of laughter and good conversation. The kids barely argued and they were all having a great time.

When everyone started finishing up Henry looked over to Elizabeth and reached out to squeeze her hand.

Elizabeth nodded, saddening feeling a pit in her stomach. It was time.

Henry cleared his throat, "Hey kids your Mom and I have something we need to tell you."

They all turned toward their parents. Stevie's eyes were wide as she tried to hide her anticipation. Henry and Elizabeth had told her beforehand that they were going to tell Ali and Jason about the baby tonight and she had spent most of the day constantly thinking about how everything was going to go down. She looked at both of her siblings and they both looked extremely concerned.

"Is everything okay?" Ali asked, her voice soft and nervous. This was what she had been fretting over. She felt like she was going to be sick to her stomach and she was mentally preparing for the worst. One of them was obviously sick and it was taking everything in her not to burst out crying before actually finding out what was going on.

Henry smiled, noticing she looked unnaturally pale. He reached over to squeeze her arm reassuringly. "Noodle, everything is fine. It's great, in fact." He paused; they had decided not to beat around the bush and just come right out and tell them the news. "Kids, we are going to have a baby."

Ali's eyes grew wide and Jason's mouth dropped open while Stevie still tried to contain her excitement at her siblings finally finding out.

"This wasn't something we planned on or even thought was a possibility so we understand if you need time to process. It took your Dad and me a bit to come to terms with everything and you all deserve that time as well." Elizabeth added.

Ali felt shock and relief wash over her all at once. She had prepared herself for the worst but the reality was so far out of left field she didn't even know how to respond. Neither one of her parents were sick. In fact it was in a way the opposite; they were going to have another kid.

They just let the kids digest the news for a moment and Elizabeth clung to Henry's hand. Ali was the first to speak, "So...so Mom, you're pregnant?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah Noodle, I'm pregnant."

Suddenly a huge smile broke out on Ali's face and she jumped out of her chair to hug her mother. She couldn't shake the feeling of pure happiness that no one was sick.

Elizabeth couldn't help herself and she started to cry. She squeezed her middle child tight and felt her body release a huge sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding in. She and Henry had predicted this going only two ways with Ali, either terribly bad or very good and she was thrilled it seemed to be the latter.

Elizabeth brushed her hand through her daughter's long hair as she continued to hug her, "Noodle, can you put your feelings into words, please? How do you feel about this?"

Ali laughed and pulled back from her mother, "It's…a little strange and totally unexpected but I'm happy for you guys." Ali wasn't going to say what she really thought, that a baby meant her mother would be around more and that was what made her the happiest. "So when are you due? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet? I hope it's a girl, a baby sister would be so awesome!"

Elizabeth couldn't control the tears brimming at her eyes at the girl's sweet reaction. "My due date is in December and we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet but we find out in a couple weeks."

Ali had a devilish grin on her face, "But you have a feeling, right? You always told us how you knew with all of us, that you got a gut feeling."

Elizabeth grinned, she loved that Ali also remembered that, "I do have a feeling, but I could be wrong."

Ali squealed, "Oh, please tell us?"

Elizabeth laughed; she wouldn't be able to deny Ali anything in this moment. She shook her head feigning defeat, "Okay, my gut says it's a girl."

Ali squealed once again and hugged her mother. "I always wanted a little sister!"

Stevie grinned, "And I can finally properly appreciate having a little sister!" This made everyone laugh, except Jason.

Elizabeth looked over at Jason who seemed to still be in shock, "Jase, you okay? How do you feel about this?"

Jason just nodded, "Um, yeah, I'm fine. Congratulations." He managed a small smile and then brought his empty plate to the counter and hastily walked out of the room.

Elizabeth turned to Henry and he shot her a look that said he would handle it.

Henry followed Jason up the stairs and into his bedroom. He managed to catch the door right before it slammed shut. "Jason, buddy, let's talk about this."

Jason turned around to face his father and scoffed, "What's there to talk about? It doesn't matter what my feelings are because they don't have any effect on what's happening. This whole year has been an upheaval of our lives and we really haven't had any say in it, why would I bother talking to you guys about it now with this? It's not going to change anything."

"Jason, we didn't plan for this to happen, it just happened."

"Is that really supposed to make me feel better? Because this was an accident I'm suddenly supposed to be okay with it?"

Henry tried to justify himself, "Buddy, that's not what I was saying…"

But Jason cut him off, "But it doesn't matter, none of it changes the fact that what I think about this whole thing doesn't really matter. Can you just leave me alone for a while?" He sat down at his desk and put on his headphones indicating he wasn't going to talk to his Dad anymore.

Henry sighed; a part of him wanted to pull the headphones off his son's head and make him listen but he figured the best thing for Jason right now was to give him time and space to come to terms with the news. He hated to admit it but Jason was right, their whole lives had been turned upside down and he never really had a say in any of it. He deserved time to process this in his own way and Henry wasn't going to deny him that right. Jason hadn't turned any music on yet so Henry knew he could still hear him, "Please come talk to us when you're ready. We're always here for you."

A week passed and Jason was barely speaking to either one of his parents. Elizabeth had wanted to talk to him but Henry quickly nixed that idea. She wasn't in exactly the best emotional state to deal with her 13 year old boy and his complicated feelings regarding the new sibling he was about to acquire. He had insisted on giving him more time and Elizabeth reluctantly agreed.

Elizabeth decided maybe getting Jason more involved would make him feel better so they decided to let the kids help them pick out a name. One morning when they were all hanging around the kitchen before work and school Elizabeth floated the idea, "Hey we know you all have complicated feelings regarding a new baby and we know it's going to be a big adjustment but Dad and I would really like you guys to help us pick a name so if you have any suggestions please tell us and once we're a little farther along we'll start talking about all our options as a family."

Ali and Stevie both looked thrilled by this proposal but Jason looked blasé. Elizabeth's heart broke a little bit; she hated seeing her son so withdrawn. "So do you want us to come up with just girls names or boys names as well?"

Elizabeth bit her lip, contemplating Stevie's question. "Well, I do think I'm going to be right about the baby being a girl but you could always come up with some suggestions for boys names just in case." She paused and looked over at Jason, "Jason, what do you think?"

Jason shrugged as he grabbed his backpack, "I don't need to help. I'm sure whatever you pick will be fine." He quickly exited the kitchen, not wanting to talk about this anymore.

Elizabeth pursed her lips, his response wasn't hostile but it wasn't exactly supportive. Ali and Stevie awkwardly followed Jason out of the house; they all needed to get to school. She turned to face Henry, not really sure how to react.

Henry reached out to his wife and pulled her close. He wrapped his arms around her body and held her, rubbing her back gently to ease some of her tension. "Just let him come to terms with this. He's going to be fine. He knows he can talk to us. We can't pressure him into dealing with this when he's not ready. We've got time."

Elizabeth sighed and nuzzled her face into her husband's warm chest. He was right but that didn't mean she had to like it.

By Saturday Alison had received an Amazon box in the mail and she was extremely excited about it. She ran over to her mother who was sitting in the living room and immediately started tearing open the box.

Ali was officially over the moon at the idea of having a little sister and Elizabeth couldn't have been happier.

"Alison, just remember for now that the online ordering is okay but don't buy anything in person. We need to keep this quiet for as long as possible."

"I know, I promise I won't say anything. Even to my friends, I swear my lips are sealed."

Elizabeth smiled and leaned in to kiss her daughter on the forehead, "Thank you Noodle. Oh and don't blow all your money on baby things, that's your money and you're in high school you should be spending it on things like makeup and shoes."

Ali grinned, "I want to buy baby stuff though! Mom, this is exciting! It's going to be like having a little living doll to dress up!"

Elizabeth laughed at her daughter's blissful ignorance, "For about a minute she's going to seem like a doll and then she'll be crying and eating and pooping all the time and she will not seem so doll-like! I guarantee you she spits up on 90% of these."

Ali shrugged, "That's okay, she's my little sister and I'll love her no matter what."

Elizabeth felt tears threatening her eyes and pulled Ali close, "That means so much to me Noodle. I'm so happy you're happy about this. It would have broken my heart to see you upset about this new baby in any way so I'm just over the moon at this reaction."

Ali hugged her Mom tightly, "Why would I be upset? This is awesome. I always wanted a little sister."

"Well we already have limited time together and I don't want you to ever feel like you're neglected. Babies require a lot of attention."

"Yeah but I get to help with all that. We get to bond as a family and take care of her as a family and that's really cool."

Elizabeth kissed the top of her daughter's head, "What did I ever do to deserve you, Noodle? You're definitely your father's daughter."

Ali grinned and continued to go through the box. Her eyes lit up when she found what she was looking for and she squealed with glee. She opened up the package and held the little onesie out for her mother. It was a little cream colored onesie with a drawing of Max and a Wild Thing along with the words, 'I'll eat you up, I love you so.'

Elizabeth felt the tears threaten at her eyes again, "Aww 'Where The Wild Things Are', that was your favorite book!"

Ali grinned, "And every night before bed we would read it and when you kissed me goodnight you would say, "Go to sleep, wild thing or I'll eat you up, I love you so."

Elizabeth couldn't stop the tears now; Ali's gesture was so incredibly sweet.

Ali continued, "I got her a copy of the book too so I can read it to her and so someday when she thinks about the book she'll think about me just like how whenever I think about it I think about you."

Elizabeth was full on crying as she took the onesie from Ali. She ran her fingers over the soft fabric and looked up at her smiling daughter. "This is so sweet, Ali. Thank you sweetheart." She went in for another hug. "I'm so proud of you. Always."

After a moment they parted and Elizabeth wiped her tears away, she needed to make this lighter, "I remember when you were this little."

Ali smiled, "It's kind of crazy to think about how we were all this little at some point. Babies never seemed that small to me as a kid, I guess that changes when you're full-sized."

"Yeah, I can't tell you how freaked out I was about how little Stevie seemed was when she was born. I knew babies were little but I had never really been around them much and God she was so tiny I thought I was going to break her, and she was actually a pretty average sized baby. You were littler than she was."

Ali smiled and pointed toward Elizabeth's stomach, "Does she kick yet?"

"Not yet, but I'll let you know the minute she does."

"Thanks Mom, I love you."

"I love you too, Noodle."

Ali showed her Mom the other onesies she'd purchased. Including one Elizabeth particularly liked that said, 'Who Run The World? Girls!' on the front.

"I'll let you show Dad all these but can I show him the Beyoncé one?"

Ali laughed and grabbed the onesie out of the box, "Definitely."

Elizabeth looked at it, it was so damn cute, "Hey if you want to buy more stuff just charge it to Dad's credit card. Don't go crazy, but you can buy outfits and books and things like that."

Ali's eyes lit up, "Oh my god, seriously?!" She exclaimed.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, just don't go crazy. You are the fashionable one in the family after all."

"This is awesome! Oh and I can make a wish list for other baby stuff you'll need and then save it so you can look at it?"

"Actually that would be really helpful."

"Oh my god this is amazing! I'm going to start right now!" Ali said, kissing her Mom on the cheek before skipping off to her room.

Elizabeth smiled as she watched her middle daughter skip off and decided she needed a nap. Henry had gone to a seminar, Stevie was at a study session at school and Jason was at a debate tournament so she had a nice, quiet house.

She headed upstairs and curled up against Henry's pillow as she dozed off.

When Elizabeth awoke a little while later she was pleasantly surprised to find her husband's strong arms around her body, one arm clutching her arm and the other resting protectively on her teeny tiny, totally not noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for, bump. One of his legs was in between hers and they were tangled together in the kind of comfortable way that only the most intimate of couples could master.

Elizabeth reached up to squeeze his hand, "Hi baby." She whispered, not wanting to wake him up if he too was sleeping.

She felt his warm lips press into her ear and she giggled as his hot breath sent a tingle down her spine.

"Hey babe, have a nice nap."

She shifted so she could face him, "It started out good but ended even better."

Henry smiled and leaned in to kiss her, "So…Ali showed me all the baby stuff she ordered."

Elizabeth grinned, "Yeah, it's pretty cute how excited she is about all this, isn't it?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah, I'm thrilled she's so excited. I was definitely a little nervous she'd have a breakdown about getting less attention."

"Thankfully she seems to have taken the opposite outlook. Thank god. Oh, she told me I could show you my favorite onesie, want to see it?"

"Of course."

Elizabeth scooted off the bed and grabbed the onesie from its spot on her vanity where it was folded neatly. She sat back down on the bed next to him and held it up so he could read it.

"Who run the world? Girls!" Henry read aloud and then started laughing, "Oh my god, I love that!"

Elizabeth started laughing, "I know! It's so cute."

Henry reached out and ran his hand along the soft fabric, "Can you believe we're gonna have a little human who fits in that in a few months?"

Elizabeth shook her head and put her hand over her stomach, "No, it's…honestly it's still a little shocking." She paused, "But I'm really happy about it."

"Me too, babe."

Elizabeth lay back down on the bed and curled up next to Henry. "I can't believe I'm 14 weeks already, if this bump gets any more noticeable I'm going to have to tell Conrad and my staff." She said with a groan.

Henry laughed, "Babe, you're going to have to tell them eventually. I uh, hate to break it to you but it's going to get a lot more noticeable."

Elizabeth smacked his thigh lightly in retaliation for the sarcasm. "Obviously I know that, but knowing I'm going to have to tell them and actually telling them are two very different things."

"Well, have you thought about how you're going to tell them?"

Elizabeth sighed, "Well I think I should tell Conrad first. I think he deserves that from me. Hopefully he won't fire me."

"Well, you know legally he can't fire you for getting pregnant. Also he might be the president but he's also your friend and pretty supportive of women's rights, I think he'll be happy for you. Also babies play very well on the campaign trail."

Elizabeth groaned, "Oh my god, let's not think about that. I'm sure all those thoughts will immediately be going through Russell's mind."

Henry laughed, "Well don't let that stress you out. We can cross that road when we get there."

"If Conrad even wants me back for a second term." Elizabeth said grumpily as she sunk into Henry's side.

Henry wrapped his arm around her, "Don't think like that. He'd be crazy not to ask you back. Come on, let's not dwell in the negativity, how are you planning on telling your staff?"

"I can't exactly e-mail this casually to the entire State Department so I'm just going to tell my immediate staff and my main agents. I really don't want to go public with this until the last minute. I should be able to hide it for quite a while if no one but my inner circle knows. Then we'll just wait for the public to start saying how fat I'm looking lately and then send out a press release so everyone feels like an asshole."

Henry burst out laughing, "Wow, okay, well you deserve to have some fun with all this."

"Plus if I don't know how well I'm going to deal with the media freaking out about me having a baby at my age and I'd just like to keep that to a minimum."

Henry frowned, he didn't like that thought, but he'd had it himself a few times. Everyone shamed everyone on the internet these days and his wife being a target due to her politics was one thing but her personal life was a whole other thing and he was not okay with any of it. He'd probably have a harder time keeping his cool than she would. "It's going to be fine. Anyone gives you grief and I'll deal with them."

Elizabeth giggled, "I know you will, but I don't want you to have to."

Henry pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, she knew him far too well.

The next day Elizabeth was sitting on her bed going over a binder when Ali popped her head into her mother's bedroom, "Hey Mom."

Elizabeth turned toward her daughter. "Hey Noodle, come on in," she said, happy to drop the binder as she patted the empty space on the bed next to her.

Ali skipped into the room and climbed onto the bed, making herself cozy against her Mom.

"What's up sweetheart?"

"Well, you guys said you wanted us to think of names and I thought of a few and wondered if you wanted to hear them?" Ali asked, looking a little unsure of herself.

Elizabeth felt a surge of emotion; she would never tire of her middle daughter being so excited to have a new sister. "Of course sweetheart, hit me with them."

Ali smiled and pulled out her phone, "Okay…Zara."

Elizabeth frowned, "Like the store?"

Ali laughed, "Yeah, but it's still a pretty name!"

Elizabeth pursed her lips, not sure what to say about that.

Ali just laughed at her mother's reaction and continued with her list, "What about Pippa?"

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and looked down at her daughter, "Seriously, Ali?"

Ali laughed, "Okay I didn't have high hopes for that one, what about Stella or Luna?"

"Both very cute, Dad might like Stella."

Ali looked happy with that response as she continued with the list, "Okay, how about Violet?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "Nope, your Dad has an ex-girlfriend named Violet. Definite no."

Ali laughed, "Okay, what about Reygan or Riley?"

"Reygan? Seriously?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Yeah, spelled R-E-Y-G-A-N so people don't think you named her after the president."

Elizabeth continued to frown, "Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to pass on both those."

"Well…what about something kind of cutesy but a little different? Something like Kalea or Lola?"

"While both of those are cute I want something that's going to flow well with Stephanie, Alison, and Jason and I just don't see Kalea or Lola working very well."

Alison sighed, "Okay, so you're thinking something more traditional?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Traditional is probably preferred."

"Jeez Ali, Lola? That's bad even for you." A new voice chimed in.

Elizabeth and Ali looked up to find Stevie standing in the doorway.

Alison scowled at her sister, "It's cute! If my name suggestions are so bad, what are yours?"

Stevie walked into her parents' bedroom and sat down on the bottom of the bed so she was facing her Mom and Ali.

"Okay, well I know this sounds a little traditional coming from me, but I think Jane is kind of a pretty name."

Elizabeth nodded; she was surprised Stevie enjoyed such a traditional name. "Jane is okay. Anything else?"

"Yeah, I have a few. Okay, I really like Marissa."

Elizabeth thought on Marissa. "Hmm, Marissa McCord, that's really cute."

Stevie smiled, happy her Mom liked a suggestion, "These might be diverging from traditional a bit but what about something unisex like Finley, Sawyer or Elliott?"

Elizabeth scrunched up her face as she internally mulled over the names, "I don't think I like Finley or Sawyer. Elliott is kind of cute. We could use Ellie for short. But that is awfully similar to Elizabeth. I bet your Dad will like Elliott. What else do you have?"

"Okay…well what if you just went for cute? Delaney? Winnie? Darby?"

"Winnie is cute but it reminds me too much of Winnie the Pooh. Darby McCord sounds…very Irish. Not that that is a bad thing I just am not sure I'm a fan. Delaney is pretty cute, but I also can't picture an adult named Delaney. Maybe think more traditional but with a cute nickname?"

Stevie frowned, "Yeah, Delaney might not be the best name for an adult."

"I do like Marissa a lot. That's so cute. Even with the Elizabeth similarity I kind of like Elliott as well. They would both go well with all your names."

Stevie's eyes lit up showing her excitement that her mother actually liked two of her suggestions.

Ali scrunched up her face in frustration, "You still like Stella right?" She asked, needing some validation.

Elizabeth squeezed her daughter to reassure her. "Yeah, sweetie, Stella is very cute."

A minute later Henry walked into the room. "Hey guys, what's going on?" He asked, smiling at all his girls.

"We were just discussing baby names." Elizabeth said.

Henry's ears perked up at the mention of baby names, "Oh that's fun! Have you guys come up with anything good?"

Ali spoke first, "I suggested Stella, what do you think?"

Henry thought about it, "Stella…Stella…that's pretty Al. Any others?"

"I like Marissa and Elliott." Stevie said.

"Elliott, oh we could call her Ellie. I like that!" Henry exclaimed.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "I knew you'd like that!"

Henry laughed and walked around the bed to playfully put his hands on his wife's shoulders. "I think it would be cute to name her Elizabeth but Mom is not a fan." He winked at the girls when he said it, he knew Elizabeth would never agree but teasing her about it was still too fun to pass up.

Stevie and Alison got his message and both laughed.

"Yeah, come on Mom. We'll just call her Ellie or Eliza or Betsy instead of Lizzy or Bess." Stevie teased.

Elizabeth glared at her, "Not happening."

"Oh come on Mom, men do it all the time. I think more women should do it." Alison added.

"Lorelai Gilmore did it!" Stevie exclaimed. At this point both girls and Henry were laughing hysterically.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and playfully pushed Henry away so she could lean back against the headboard. She rolled her eyes at her hysterical family, trying with all her might not to laugh herself. "If I was going to name one of you Elizabeth it would have been Stevie. That's a first kid kind of thing, not a fourth."

"Yeah, but instead you named me after your favorite singer from your favorite band." Stevie jested.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, and I stand by that."

"You got lucky kid; she initially wanted to name you Rhiannon."

Alison was laughing so hard she was rolling around the bed, "Oh my god I never knew that! That's so funny!"

Henry laughed along as he watched all his girls. He was so happy they were excited about the baby. Two out of three wasn't bad. He just hoped Jason would come around soon.

* * *

Thanks for reading! And even more thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave me a review! It means a lot to me & really makes me more excited to get the next chapter out!

I also just wanted to say that I'm currently on vacation, which is why these updates are coming kind of slow and sporadically. Also my internet access isn't extremely reliable. I'll try to get one more update (probably on 'Something Blooming') in before the 22nd but after that I'll be totally MIA from the 22nd to the 26th. I'll then be flying home the 27th and I'll try to start on a regular posting schedule once I get back home and sleep off my jet lag (because I'm pretty sure it's gonna be bad) and get back into my regular work schedule.

Thanks for reading. x J


	6. Chapter 6

Henry was lying in bed half asleep when he heard quiet sobs coming from the closet. He jumped out of bed and ran to the closet to find his wife sitting on the floor, head in her hands as she cried.

He could feel his heart racing as he dropped to the ground next to his wife and enveloped her in his arms. "Baby, what's going on?" He asked, silently praying she was having a hormonal moment and not a real problem.

Elizabeth wiped her eyes and snuggled into her husband's strong chest, "My skirt won't zip."

Henry let out a dig of relief and couldn't resist smiling. He was happy she couldn't see his face. "Um, babe I don't mean to sound insensitive…but that was bound to happen."

"I know, I know! I feel crazy. I knew it was coming but I'm still upset."

Henry stroked Elizabeth's back tenderly. "You're not crazy, you're doing just fine. Now let's just find you something else to wear."

He helped her stand up and she turned around and pointed to the zipper on her skirt, "How about instead I hold it shut and you just yank the zipper up and then I'm good to go?" For some reason even she wasn't aware of, her emotional stability at this moment was dependent on this skirt fitting.

Henry placed his hand on her shoulder and gently turned her around to face him, "Babe, I'm not about to squish our daughter. Let's just pick a new skirt, please?"

Elizabeth sighed and her shoulders crumbled in defeat and she looked like she was going to cry again. Henry pulled her in for another hug and when she relaxed he helped her pick a new skirt. Of course once she put it on she couldn't stop staring at herself in the mirror and running her hand over her stomach in disapproval.

"Babe, you look great. Stop stressing out about this."

Elizabeth just kept frowning but turned around suddenly, "Do I look fat?"

"No," Henry said quickly. He knew this drill well.

She glared at him like she didn't believe him.

He walked over to her and put his hands on her cheeks, gently tilting her head up so he could kiss her. "You do not look fat, you look gorgeous." He murmured against her lips.

Her frown melted into a smile as his lips captured hers; she wrapped her arms around his waist and deepened the kiss.

Henry leisurely kissed her back until he felt her hand run down his chest and start to tug on the waistband of his boxers.

He stilled her hand but continued to kiss her, whispering between kisses, "Babe, we can't do that or we're both going to be late."

She pulled away from him so she could look into his eyes, her blue eyes glassy like she was going to cry again. Henry couldn't stand that look. He sighed; he could never deny her anything. "Fine, but it has to be quick." He jested.

"And dirty?" Elizabeth added, her eyes twinkling.

Henry laughed, "Absolutely." He then scooped her up off the floor making her squeal with excitement as he carried her to their bed.

Later that night Elizabeth was relaxing on the sofa, nestled comfortably in Henry's arms as they mindlessly watched television. All of a sudden Elizabeth jolted upward. Henry turned to her, looking very confused.

Elizabeth reached for his hand and placed it on the side of her tiny bump, "Do you feel that?"

Suddenly Henry's eyes lit up, "Oh my god!"

They both sat there in awe for a moment, as their daughter seemed to be doing some sort of dance. Elizabeth laughed, "Oh my god, I forgot what this felt like."

Henry nodded and ran his hand along her belly as he stared in awe, "Me too."

They let themselves bask in the wonder of the moment until Elizabeth realized Ali would freak if she didn't call her downstairs immediately. She tapped Henry's shoulder lightly, "Oh, get the kids!"

Henry raced up the stairs and called to all the kids from the top, "Hey kiddos, baby's kicking!"

Stevie and Alison bolted out of their bedrooms, practically knocking Henry out of the way as they playfully fought their way down the stairs as if they were competing to get downstairs the fastest.

"Hey! I'm not in the mood to go to the hospital tonight, do not injure each other!" Henry called after them. But they were already down the stairs so it didn't really matter. Henry walked over to Jason's room. His door was closed but Henry opened it without knocking anyway. "Hey buddy, baby girl is kicking. Mom thought you might want to feel?"

Jason shook his head, "I'm good."

Henry sighed. He didn't know what to say to Jason. The boy hadn't been angry or hostile, he just seemed to shut down and Henry wasn't sure how to react to that. Of course it was Jason so demanding he talk about it would only make it worse and that would end badly for everyone. Jason had said he needed time but how much time did he mean? The duration of Elizabeth's pregnancy or would it go on for longer?

"All right, buddy. I know you're not ready to talk but can you please just make more of an effort for your Mom? Just spend a little time with her. She's emotional and exhausted and this isn't easy on her."

Jason pursed his lips as if mulling over his father's request. "Fine, but I still don't want to feel the baby kick."

Henry held his hands up in the air in surrender, "Deal. Just talk to your Mom a little. She's worried about you."

Jason just nodded and buried his nose back in his book.

Meanwhile the girls had bolted downstairs and Ali had only narrowly beat Stevie to their mother. "Is she still kicking? Can I feel?" Both girls asked as they circled their mother.

Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, she's still moving around a little. If you talk to her she might move a little more."

She placed both her girls hands on her stomach around the area their baby sister had been kicking at earlier.

"So now we should talk to her?" Ali asked, looking skeptical.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, if she hears your voice she may move."

Ali leaned down, "Okay, um...hi baby girl. I'm your big sister Ali."

"And I'm your big sister, Stevie. Can you move around for us just a little, please?"

Henry walked back into the room at that point. He smiled at his girls, "She still kicking?"

Ali and Stevie both pouted. "No, she hasn't moved."

"Here, let Dad talk to her. That always used to work with you guys."

Henry leaned over the back of the sofa and got up close to his wife and daughters. "Hi baby girl, it's Daddy. Do you think you can kick a little bit for your sisters?" He paused and waited for a minute to see if there was movement but baby girl gave him nothing. "This is the only time in your life where kicking your mother won't get you grounded so you should use that to your advantage."

The girls burst out laughing. "Daddy's right baby girl, get it out of your system." Elizabeth added but they still got nothing.

"Wait, what if you sang to her? Like you used to when we were little?" Ali asked.

"Yeah, you always used to sing me "Jet" when I was little and grumpy, maybe baby girl is grumpy and needs a happy song?"

Henry laughed and shrugged, it was worth a try. He started singing and after a minute the baby started moving again, sending Stevie and Alison into fits of excitement.

Elizabeth smiled and reached up to run her hand through Henry's hair. She had always loved when he sang to her belly.

After a bit the baby stopped moving and Stevie and Ali headed back upstairs. Henry sat down next to Elizabeth and pulled her legs over his lap.

"Jason didn't want to come down?" Elizabeth asked Henry.

He shook his head, "No and I didn't want to force him. That wouldn't have helped anything."

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, I'm just worried about him."

Henry frowned, his wife was clearly stressed out about Jason and that wasn't good for her or their baby girl. "Don't stress yourself out about this, babe. Jason will come around."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"We're just going to have to make him talk to us. But we have time, he just needs to get used to everything and we owe him the space to figure it out." Henry said, reaching out to grab his wife's hand and stroking the back of her hand soothingly.

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, "Okay." She trusted Henry's instinct and she had to trust that their son would come around as well.

At four months, and after being continuously badgered by Henry for a week, Elizabeth finally conceded that she needed to tell Conrad and her staff. Her pregnancy still wasn't really noticeable unless you knew she was pregnant and/or she was wearing a particularly tight skirt or pair of pants. She had finally listened to Henry and invested in some new clothing, even though she had hated buying it all, she had to admit she felt better and for the time being she wasn't so worried about people figuring out her secret.

On the morning she had chosen to tell Conrad she and Henry were getting ready together. He had offered to come with but she declined, she needed to do this on her own.

"You know what pisses me off?" Elizabeth asked Henry as she rummaged around for a pair of earrings to wear.

Henry was sitting on the bed putting socks on and he turned to look at her, "What babe?"

Elizabeth sighed, "It pisses me off that we have to hide this pregnancy from everyone like it's some dirty secret." She paused, "I mean I know we don't _have_ to hide it, but what are our other options? Tell the world and force our family to go through more stress and crap from the press than we're already going to get? It isn't fair that our options are hiding something we're really happy about or facing a couple extra months of public scrutiny."

Henry sighed, she was right, it wasn't fair but there wasn't anything they could do about it. He got up and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry baby."

Elizabeth leaned back in Henry's arms and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of her husband's embrace. "It's not your fault. God, I hate complaining. I just want to enjoy this like a normal family but we don't get to be normal because of my job."

Henry kneeled down so he could place a trail of kisses down his wife's cheek. If he couldn't placate her fears at least he could distract her.

She giggled as he made his way down her neck. "I'm excited for our appointment tonight."

Henry looked up at her and grinned, "We get to find out if your gut feeling is still accurate"

"Yeah, hopefully it hasn't because if this goes bad with Conrad I'm going to need a win and I'm very attached to the idea of having a baby girl."

"You're going to be right, I know it and don't worry about Conrad; he's going to be fine. You're too valuable."

Elizabeth laughed, "And you're biased. But thank you."

When she left Elizabeth didn't even stop at the State Department before heading over to the White House for her meeting with Conrad. She was really dreading this and it was making her feel sick to her stomach.

They chatted for a few minutes about their families but Elizabeth knew Conrad knew something was going on with her. But she expected as much, he had been a superb CIA director and analyst.

"Bess, what's really on your mind?" He finally asked.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and turned to look her boss in the eye. "Conrad, I'm pregnant."

His eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head in surprise and it took him a minute to process. Elizabeth just sat still across from him, panicking inside as she quietly went over all the ways this could go badly.

Thankfully Conrad started to smile, "Wow, I can honestly say I didn't see that one coming." He shook his head, "Gosh, I'm sorry Bess, congratulations are in order!"

Elizabeth was shocked at his words, "Um, thank you sir."

He was studying her reaction, "That is the appropriate response...is it not?"

Elizabeth shook herself out of her stupor, "Yes, sorry. Henry and I are thrilled. The girls are excited but Jason not so much."

Conrad smiled, "He'll come around. You're a great Mom. I'm happy for you, Bess."

Elizabeth smiled, "It's funny, on the way here I just kept thinking about the other three times I told you I was pregnant. I never in a million years would have guessed we'd be having that same conversation in the Oval Office.

Conrad grinned, "Oh, I remember that first time fondly. You told me and then promptly threw up in my trash can."

Elizabeth couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing. She was so incredibly relieved by Conrad's reaction.

He smiled and continued talking, "I'd have to agree I never thought we'd be having this conversation here."

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, um, Henry and I did not plan this. It just sort of happened. Apparently there's only like a 3% chance for this to happen if you're over 45 so we're going with the whole miracle theory." She liked that she could be this honest with Conrad due to their long history together.

"I'm thrilled for you, Bess. Truly."

She smiled, "Thank you, Conrad. I appreciate that. I um…I don't know how this is going to affect my position or you wanting me back for a second term but I just want you to know that I understand whatever you decide to do."

Conrad smiled, "Bess, I don't want you to worry about your job, ever. You have proven invaluable to me this past year and I have no doubt you will be able to handle everything that comes your way."

Elizabeth smiled; it meant a lot to her that he had this much faith in her.

She finished up her meeting with Conrad and they both reluctantly agreed Russell needed to know as well. His reaction was much different than Conrad's but completely expected. "Well, kids play well on the campaign trail."

Elizabeth and Conrad exchanged a knowing look. They had both known that would be his reaction. Conrad just dodged that topic by informing Russell that Elizabeth wouldn't be making a formal announcement until she absolutely had to and even only her inner circle of staff would be informed before then.

Russell agreed and shortly after Elizabeth was on her way to the State Department. She texted Blake telling him to gather everyone in the conference room. She wanted to get this out while she was on a roll.

Back at the office, Matt, Daisy, Jay, and Nadine were gathered in the conference room and Matt, Daisy and Jay couldn't help but speculate about what was happening.

"Does anyone know what this meeting is about?" Matt posed the question to everyone in the conference room.

They all shook their heads; everyone—except Nadine—had no idea what was going on.

"Are we all about to get fired? This feels bad." Daisy added.

Nadine was sitting there calm and relaxed, casually flipping through a document on her iPad. "You'll find out in a minute."

Daisy frowned, Nadine knew something, of course she knew something.

Blake then walked into the conference room and they all stopped talking, "Blake, what is going on?" Jay asked.

Blake didn't even flinch, "You'll find out in a minute when the Secretary walks in here."

A minute later Elizabeth walked into the room and everyone fell silent.

"Morning everyone. I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you here and I feel like I should just get to the point." She paused and took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant."

Everyone was completely silent, mouths dropped open; you could practically hear crickets chirping it was so awkward for a minute.

"Believe me, I know this is surprising, hell, it was a huge surprise to me. No one on my staff besides you in this room are to find out about this pregnancy. I need it kept as quiet as possible for as long as possible for the sake of my family. When I can't hide it any more we can talk about a press release but I would like to keep this under wraps for as long as possible. The less people here that know, the less likely the press will get wind of this before I'm ready to go public with the information."

Everyone was still silent and staring blankly. "Okay, so I'm going to my office because I'm not feeling great but you guys process this and if you have any questions about how all this is going to work…to be honest I don't even know yet so we'll tackle them as they come."

She walked briskly out of the room and Blake followed her into her office. "Ma'am can I get you anything?"

She sat down on her sofa and pulled her garbage can over to her, "Ginger ale and crackers, please."

Blake ran out and came back with the ginger ale and crackers quickly and he made sure she was situated on her sofa.

She smiled at him, "Blake you're too good to me."

Blake smiled, "I serve at the pleasure ma'am."

"Thank you, Blake."

Elizabeth started snacking on a cracker and she pulled out her phone to call Henry. He answered on the second ring, "Hey babe."

She sighed in relief at the sound of her husband's beautiful voice, "Hi baby."

Henry immediately knew she wasn't herself by the tone of her voice, "What's wrong babe? Do you not feel well?"

He always knew what she needed and right now that made her want to cry, "I think I stressed myself out so much about telling Conrad that baby girl is exacting her revenge."

Henry chuckled, "I'm sorry babe, how did telling Conrad go?"

"Shockingly well. My staff, on the other hand, was caught completely off guard. I'm just letting them process."

Henry sighed in relief, he was glad Conrad had responded well. "Do you need me to bring you anything?"

"You?"

Henry grinned, "How about I bring you lunch? What do you want?"

"Beltway Burgers!" Elizabeth said, her mouth watering from the name alone.

Henry laughed, he figured she deserved a burger after their eventful morning, "You got it, babe. I'll see you in a couple hours. I love you."

"I love you so much, baby."

Later that day on their way to the doctor Elizabeth was in a great mood. Conrad's reaction had gone so well and her staff had all filed in at some point during the day to say congratulations, they all seemed shocked but kept their mouths shut and no one dared to piss her off by referencing a possible press release. Her lunch with Henry had also elevated her mood and the fact that she left the office on time without a crisis coming up. Today was a good day and it was about to get better because they were going to have their baby's sex confirmed.

At Elizabeth's appointment Dr. Bell was performing her exam before she did an ultrasound.

Elizabeth turned to Henry, "You'd think, this being my fourth pregnancy and all, that I'd be used to all this probing of my vagina, but it's definitely still kind of awful."

Henry smiled sympathetically and squeezed his wife's hand. Elizabeth smiled up at her husband. Four pregnancies and he'd never missed one doctor's appointment or late night feeding and never once complained about changing a dirty diaper. He was her touchstone in all areas of life and she couldn't be more grateful to have him.

"All right Madam Secretary, everything looks good."

Elizabeth felt a small wave of relief wash over her, "Thank you and can you please call me Elizabeth? It feels very uncomfortable to have someone who spends so much time between my legs call me Madam Secretary. Unless it's Henry and we're doing some role play thing where…" She trailed off, unable to believe what she just confessed to her doctor. She was pretty sure her eyes were bulging out of her head in embarrassment and she looked up at Henry whose cheeks were bright red and his lips were pursed. She looked back at Dr. Bell, "I am so sorry about that. All these hormones seem to be affecting my ability to filter information."

Thankfully Dr. Bell just laughed, "Ma'am, its fine. That never leaves the room and believe me, it happens more often than you'd think and I've heard _much_ worse."

Elizabeth sighed, "Oh thank god," she glanced over at Henry and was relieved to see he was laughing. She turned back to Dr. Bell, "And please call me Elizabeth, please?"

Dr. Bell smiled, "I will call you Elizabeth but you have to call me Christine."

Elizabeth smiled, "Deal."

It took a minute to set up for Elizabeth's ultrasound and she was getting antsier by the minute. Finally everything was in place and they were once again transfixed by sonogram photos of their newest family member.

"Okay then, are you two sure you want to find out the baby's sex?" She asked, giving Elizabeth and Henry one more out.

"This one is sure it's a girl and she was right about the last three, so we definitely want you to confirm." Henry responded, squeezing his wife's hand.

Dr. Bell smiled, "Well, Elizabeth you have a very good intuition because you are having a girl."

Elizabeth turned to Henry and they both started grinning like nuts.

Dr. Bell sensed they needed a moment alone, "I'll print out the new pictures for you and be back in a bit." She said as she left the room.

Henry reached forward to cup Elizabeth's cheek and pulled her in to kiss her. When they had to come up for air they rested their foreheads against each other, "You were right babe, 4 and 0, we're having a little girl."

Elizabeth giggled, "I hope you remember how to braid hair."

"Of course I do, you could never get it right so I was always on braid duty!"

Elizabeth felt herself tearing up. She ran her hand down Henry's cheek, "This kid is so damn lucky you're her Dad."

Henry smiled and leaned in to kiss her once again, "And she's even luckier you're her Mom. And don't argue with me about that because you will not win."

Elizabeth just laughed and pulled him in for another kiss, "I love you, Henry McCord."

Henry and Elizabeth arrived home and were immediately cornered by Stevie and Alison. "Please tell me I'm still getting a little sister?" Alison begged.

A huge grin broke out on Elizabeth's face as she nodded, "Yep, you are definitely getting a baby sister, Noodle."

Ali and Stevie both danced around excitedly and Elizabeth and Henry just watched them, thrilled their girls were so ecstatic about getting a new little sister.

"Hey, where's Jason?" Elizabeth asked after a minute.

Stevie and Ali exchanged skeptical looks. "He's in his room." Stevie responded.

"I'm going to go talk to him. Baby, can you make me a cup of that peppermint tea?"

Henry nodded, he wasn't exactly sure Elizabeth talking to Jason about this was the best idea but he knew his wife well enough to know he wasn't going to be able to stop her.

Elizabeth headed upstairs and knocked lightly on Jason's door to announce herself before letting herself into his room. "Hey buddy, what's going on?"

Jason turned to look at his mother and shrugged, "Finishing up homework."

Elizabeth walked over to him and sat down on his bed. She reached up to squeeze his arm gently, "Do you need any help?"

He shook his head, no.

Elizabeth sighed, she didn't want to pressure him to talk about the baby but she needed to know he was okay. "Dad and I just got back from the doctor and we found out officially that you're going to have a little sister in a few months."

Jason just nodded and pretended to keep reading.

"Jason, I know this is a big life change and you haven't had a lot of choice in anything that's gone on for the past year but I want you to know you can talk to your Dad and me about anything. Even if you just want to yell at us, I just…I need to know you're okay?"

Jason put down his book and turned toward his mother, "I'm just not ready to talk about it, Mom."

Elizabeth nodded, that wasn't what she wanted to hear but she supposed that what he admitted was better than nothing. "Okay, thanks for telling me and when you're ready to talk I'm right here. I love you." She got up and kissed the top of his head before she started walking out of his bedroom.

"I love you too, Mom." He called out once she was out the door.

She paused for a minute, smiling to herself, it was a small gesture but it was a step in the right direction.

The next day Elizabeth and Henry planned on calling Will. They knew he wouldn't tell anyone about her pregnancy and even if he did it wasn't like anyone in the Syrian refugee camp would even care she was pregnant, especially since he was never forthcoming with the fact that his little sister was the secretary of state.

"Lizzy, to what do I owe this honor?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Will's greeting and Henry tried not to laugh. Elizabeth punched him lightly on the arm and he covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey Will, good to talk to you too. I've got you on speakerphone, Henry is here with me and we have some news."

"Well that must mean it's not work related news, are you two planning a romantic trip to Syria sometime soon?" He joked.

Elizabeth stifled a laugh of her own, "Actually I won't be able to make it to Syria anytime soon, for work or pleasure."

"All right, now I'm intrigued, what's going on little sister?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant."

Will was dead silent on the other end; he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Wow, no snarky comment, I think we actually may have managed to surprise him." Henry said to Elizabeth.

Henry's comment made Will laugh out loud, "Wow…just wow. McCord, I can't believe you knocked up my sister at fifty! I guess congratulations are in order. I didn't realize you two wanted another kid."

"Well, we weren't planning it, it just sort of happened." Elizabeth responded.

"You guys are great parents, you'll be fine. Lizzy, I know we don't talk as much as we should but please keep me updated. I want to know my little sister is doing well. I have to get going but be safe and take care of that kid."

Elizabeth smiled, as much as Will drove her absolutely nuts she really did love him and she knew he loved her. "I'll keep you updated and you be safe too. By the way, that kid is a girl, just so you know."

Will laughed, "Mom would be so happy. Congratulations you guys. Talk soon."

"Bye Will."

Elizabeth hung up the phone, feeling happy she talked to Will. She leaned close to Henry and he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. He wasn't surprised when she started quietly crying, he was only surprised it had taken this long.

"I'm sorry, I know I should be over this by now."

Henry frowned, "Babe, you don't get over losing your parents. You just get through it. You have every right to be sad that your parents never got to meet our kids."

"I'm sad that your Mom isn't here to meet baby girl too. She was so good with the kids. I lost count of how many times I called her panicking when I was pregnant with Stevie."

Henry smiled, "She's be thrilled to find out she was going to have another grandbaby. And when my Dad inevitably said something about our ages she would have smacked him on the back of the head."

Elizabeth laughed, "Yeah, she was the only one who could ever keep him under control." She paused, "Your Dad and Maureen are going to be so pissed when they realize we waited to tell them until the last minute."

Henry laughed, "Yeah, well it's not our fault they're both loudmouths! They are just going to have to get over it and recognize this is what's best for you and our family."

Elizabeth reached over and intertwined her fingers with Henry. "Thank you."

Henry raised his eyebrows, "For what?"

She leaned in to kiss him and whispered, "For just being you."

* * *

This was posted from my phone and it was hard to proof so I apologize if there are any big mistakes! Thanks so much for reading and please let me know what you think! Anyone happy it's officially a girl? Tell me a name or two you like?!


	7. Chapter 7

Elizabeth let out and exasperated sigh as she walked into her bedroom and flopped down on the bed next to her husband.

He reached over to rub her back and then tapped her shoulder as a gentle reminder she shouldn't be lying on her stomach for long.

She sighed and sat up in bed, curling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. She smiled when he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and rested his other hand over her stomach.

Elizabeth placed her hand over his and turned in to kiss his cheek.

"What's going on, babe?" Henry asked.

Elizabeth chuckled, "Stevie's attic renovations are costing a fortune."

They had finally asked Stevie to give up her room and though she had initially agreed without so much as a fuss, when they informed her they would let her move up to the third floor room and make some adjustments she had not been shy at hiding her excitement and gratitude.

"Does she know that? I'm sure she'd be happy to pick out some more reasonably priced things."

Elizabeth sighed, "No, I can't do that. You know she'd pick something else out no questions asked but she's been so great about all this I just want her to have whatever she wants."

Henry smiled and kissed his wife on the forehead, "It'll be fine. Don't worry about, money doesn't even make the cut onto our very long list of things to worry about."

Elizabeth chuckled, "You got that right, less than five months to go and we haven't even picked a color for the nursery let alone any furniture."

"We can do that right now?"

"Okay...where do we start? I can't even remember how to go about doing this." Elizabeth said with a laugh.

"Let's just start with colors, do we want to go traditional, all pink and frilly? Or should we just say screw it and do whatever the hell kind of colors we want?"

Elizabeth frowned, "Honestly, I don't like pink. I've never liked it and I don't want a nursery drenched in pink. Maybe we could just make it colorful and happy instead of sticking to a specific palette?"

"I like that. A lot of the stuff Ali has on her list is bright and colorful."

Elizabeth looked up at her husband, studying his face, "Have you been checking Ali's crazy list?"

Henry shrugged, attempting to be coy, "Maybe and maybe I ordered a few things off of it like that adorable whale bathtub and the turtle nightlight."

Elizabeth tried not to laugh, "Is that it?"

Henry pursed his lips, trying his hardest not to laugh as well. "Maybe...no."

Elizabeth couldn't help herself when she started laughing as she pulled her husband in for a kiss. "I love you, Henry McCord."

It didn't take the contractor very long to make Stevie's new room livable and within a couple weeks the room was painted and her new furniture was set up. This meant clearing out her old room and finally being able to set it up for the baby. They had picked out a furniture set that was completely white, that had been Elizabeth's only real preference. They had gone with a very pale lilac purple for the walls and Elizabeth was very happy they nixed the traditional pink. Ali was in charge of bedding and decorations and when she found ones she thought matched she was to show them to her parents for approval. Everything seemed to be coming together wonderfully.

That is until a little after her five-month mark Elizabeth woke up in the middle of the night with shooting pains in her lower abdomen. She clutched her tiny bump and as she moved she felt something wet on the bed. She couldn't remember ever feeling so terrified to turn on a light as she was in that moment. Her worst fears were confirmed when she turned on the light and saw a bright red blood stain on their beige sheets. She could keep her cool about anything on earth: war with Russia, an Iranian coup, even the possibility of the president having a hand in the death of her predecessor...but the minute something had the possibility of harming her family she struggled to maintain her composure. Now did not feel like the time to maintain composure.

She started shaking Henry, she knew she looked crazy with tears running down her face, "Henry, Henry wake up, I need to go to the hospital."

Henry shot out of bed at the word 'hospital' and the panic on his face only grew when he saw the bright blood on the sheets.

Henry wasted no time in grabbing his phone and calling her detail and informing them they were going to have to rush to the hospital. He then ran into their bathroom and closet, grabbing a pad a new pair of underwear and a pair of his sweatpants for his wife.

He called Dr. Bell as he was helping Elizabeth change and she told him she would inform the hospital and meet them there immediately.

Alison, always the light sleeper, wandered into her parents' bedroom confused and alarmed by the noise. She seemed to go from half-asleep to wide awake in less than a second after seeing her father scoop her mother up into his arms and walk toward the door.

"What is happening?" Alison asked, her voice quiet and fearful.

Henry moved toward the door, talking while he walked. "Alison, I need you to stay calm. Mom is bleeding and I'm taking her to the hospital." He continued walking out of the bedroom and saw Stevie coming down the stairs. She bolted over to her parents but Henry kept walking.

"What is happening?" She asked, clutching Alison's arm.

"Your Mom is bleeding. We're going to the hospital. I need you guys to stay here and take care of Jason. I will call you the minute we know anything."

"Mom..." Alison pleaded when they reached the front door, her voice breaking as she tried not to cry.

Elizabeth felt the tears pour from her eyes, her adult and teenage daughters looked terrified like little girls, she finally spoke, "I love you both so much. Everything is going to be fine." She needed them to believe it even if she didn't believe it herself.

They walked out of the house and her detail was immediately ready for her, lights already flashing on the SUV's.

Stevie and Alison stopped outside their Mom's SUV, tears now rolling freely down their faces as they watched their parents drive away.

Henry held onto Elizabeth the whole way, unwilling to let go of his wife for fear he would lose both her and their unborn daughter if he let her go.

When they arrived at the hospital they were ready for them. A flock of doctors and nurses were ready to tend to the Secretary of State.

Dr. Bell appeared a minute after they were inside the building and immediately told Elizabeth the first thing they had to do was an ultrasound.

Elizabeth knew what that meant; they were looking for a heartbeat. She nodded, absolutely terrified, and she gripped Henry's hand even harder.

They rolled Elizabeth into an exam room and the nurses helped her onto the table. The nurse pulled up her sweater to reveal her small baby bump and swabbed the cold gel over her. Dr. Bell entered the room and within a few minutes had her wand out and everything was ready to go.

The wand danced across Elizabeth's belly for a moment as Dr. Bell searched for a heartbeat. Suddenly her stern face turned into a smile. She hit a button on the machine and suddenly the sound of a heartbeat filled the room.

Elizabeth was so relieved she burst out crying and Henry leaned over his wife, kissing the top of her head as he cried silently to himself.

Dr. Bell gave them both a minute to compose themselves before speaking, "She's got a strong heartbeat so that's very encouraging. That doesn't mean you're out of the woods but it does give me hope that the bleeding isn't coming from your uterus. If it's a rupture of some sort outside of your uterus the baby's heartbeat will stay strong and you should stop bleeding in a few hours. We're going to keep you here overnight, run some tests and reassess in the morning if the bleeding hasn't stopped. One of the nurses will get you situated and move you to a room. We will put a monitor on your stomach and if the baby's heartbeat drops at any time I will be right here. You need to relax, Elizabeth. I know it's difficult but it will be the best thing for you and for your little girl. I'm going to have one of the nurses draw your blood and we will run some tests. I'll bring you the results as soon as I get them."

Elizabeth and Henry just nodded, both of them unable to speak at this point.

Finally, after they were finally alone and had a few moments of silence Henry was the first to speak. "I need to call the kids."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up, "Can you put them on speakerphone? I need to hear their voices."

"Of course I can, baby." Henry said, finally getting off the floor and sitting on the table facing her. He held her hand tightly as he dialed with his other hand. Stevie picked up after the first ring, "What's going on? Is Mom okay? Is baby girl okay?" She asked, her mouth moving a mile a minute.

"Hi sweetheart. I'm okay, baby girl has a strong heartbeat so she's okay too." Elizabeth managed a small smile, she liked that the family had taken to using baby girl as a nickname.

"But..." Stevie asked, she knew there was a but.

Henry sighed, "But they are keeping Mom here overnight. They are hopeful that the bleeding is from outside her uterus so if baby girl's heartbeat stays strong and the bleeding stops soon we should be in the clear."

"Okay, can we come sit with you guys?" Stevie asked, her voice suddenly soft and timid like a child.

Elizabeth's eyes welled up with tears once again, "No, please stay at the house. I have a bad feeling we're going to get some very unwanted press out of this so just stay inside the house. If you need anything just ask my detail or call Blake. You guys don't have to go to school tomorrow unless you want to go."

"Okay, can I put you on speakerphone so Ali and Jason can talk to you?"

"Yes, please." Elizabeth said, needing to hear all of her children's voices.

"Hi Mommy," Ali's voice came over first, high pitched like she was trying not to cry.

"Hi Mom," Jason's voice was second.

"Hi babies, how are you?"

"Mom, we're fine, how are you? How's baby girl?"

"We're okay sweetie. Everything is going to be fine. Please get some sleep. Don't worry about us. Dad and I will call you in the morning. We love you guys so much."

"We love you too." Came a chorus from all three children.

They said their goodbyes and Henry hung up the phone but before he put it away he texted Stevie. _Sweetheart, I hate to ask you this but can you clean up the blood in our bedroom? I don't want your mother to come home and have to see it again._

Stevie responded right away. _Already done. Do you need anything else?_

Henry was so grateful for how much his oldest daughter had grown in the past year. She was kind and insightful and he was so proud of her. _No, that's it. Thank you so much sweetheart. I love you._

Stevie quickly responded. _I love you too. Take care of Mom and baby girl._

Henry put his phone away and turned back toward Elizabeth. Her eyes were closed and her free hand was cradling her stomach.

Henry reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, "It took me so long to wrap my head around the idea of having another baby and now...now I think if I lost her I'd never get over it."

Henry squeezed her hand gently, "Babe, you can't think about that. You have to stay calm like Dr. Bell told you. Everything is going to be fine."

Elizabeth sighed, "I can't think about anything else, Henry. I know that she said her heartbeat is strong and the blood wasn't dark and all of that is good but this whole pregnancy was one happy accident. She is a 3 percent miracle. We got so lucky…what if by some crazy karma we could be just as unlucky? By that logic it means there is still a chance that we could lose this little girl and that thought is so painful it feels like someone shoved a knife through my heart."

Henry nodded as he felt tears threatening his eyes again. She was right, but he had to keep her calm for the sake of herself and their little girl. He wanted to say that was crazy thinking but he couldn't bring himself to tell her she was wrong because what if she was right? He sighed; maybe distracting her was the best option at this point. "What if I talk to you? Distract you?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips, contemplating his offer, "Will you tell me a story?"

Henry grinned, "Absolutely, what do you want to hear?"

Elizabeth actually managed a half smile. "Tell me a story about us."

Henry smiled, "You know all the stories about us. You were there."

Elizabeth giggled, "Yeah but I want to hear one from your point of view."

Henry pretended to sigh in frustration but it was masked by a teasing smile, "Okay, okay..." He said, trying to think about something she didn't know.

"Oh, I've got it! Remember on like our fourth date when we had a picnic by the lake?"

Elizabeth grinned, "Of course I do."

"Okay, well it was oddly warm for November and we had gone to the lake and eaten lunch because we both just finished big exams and we wanted to blow off some steam so we brought that bottle of crappy moscato."

Elizabeth laughed, she had almost forgotten about their penchant for sneaking wine everywhere.

"Okay, well we drank all that wine and we were both exhausted so we decided to take a nap."

Elizabeth nodded; hoping something good was going to come out of this story.

"Well, you fell asleep first. You were curled up in my arms and all I could think about was that was how I wanted to go to sleep every night for the rest of my life. I looked at you and felt like I could take anything that came my way as long as I had you to get me through the night. I bent down and whispered in your ear that I loved you. Of course I panicked about it later that night when I sobered up but you didn't seem freaked out so I just assumed you hadn't heard me. I couldn't even admit to myself for a long time that I actually meant it when I said it. I just convinced myself that it was lust. But I know it wasn't, it was love. I later realized that it was a familiar feeling, one I had felt on our first date when you kept throwing popcorn at the people in front of us during that movie."

Elizabeth was beaming, "I must have done something really good in another life to deserve you."

Henry leaned in a placed a soft kiss on her lips, "It was fate. Fate and faith. Fate brought us together and faith keeps us together because I believe in you more than I've ever believed in anyone in my entire life. I will always have faith in you and I will always be certain that you were my destiny."

Elizabeth now had tears in her eyes, "You are the most wonderful man on earth."

Before Henry could speak a nurse came into the room and announced they were moving Elizabeth to a more secluded area of the hospital and to a private room.

They got her situated: monitor on her belly to track the baby's heartbeat, an IV to keep her from getting dehydrated, and Dr. Bell came back with her blood work.

"Elizabeth, all your tests came back normal. Keep updating the nurses about your pain. You and the baby are going to be fine. We are just keeping you overnight to be absolutely certain. The nurses will be checking on you about once an hour so I apologize that you might not get much sleep. Let me know if you need anything and I'll be back in the morning."

Elizabeth managed a small smile, "Thank you so much, I'm just really freaked out about this."

"That's normal. You did the right thing coming here. Just relax as much as you can, your little girl is a strong one."

Dr. Bell left and Henry squeezed Elizabeth's hand, "Baby girl is a fighter, just like her Mom."

Elizabeth smiled and Henry pulled up a chair so he could sit right next to his wife. He placed his hand on her stomach just under the monitor band. Elizabeth was slightly startled when she kicked.

Her eyes lit up, "She kicked!"

Henry looked just as ecstatic at the movement.

"She obviously knows her Daddy," Elizabeth said, squeezing Henry's hand. "I think she wants you to sing her a song." Elizabeth teased.

Henry laughed, "She told you that, did she?"

Elizabeth laughed, "Absolutely." Henry wasn't going to tease his wife right now, he knew she needed this and he was happy to oblige. He leaned forward to be closer to Elizabeth's belly, "Baby girl, I don't have my guitar so I hope a cappella is all right with you. Here goes...I'd like to be, under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade"

Elizabeth tried to contain her laughter as Henry sang "Octopus' Garden" to their daughter.

He finished and Elizabeth was still laughing, "Octopus' Garden? Really?"

Henry shrugged, "I knew it would make you laugh."

"It did. Thank you."

"Babe, you need to try to get some sleep."

Elizabeth groaned, "I can't sleep. I'm too nervous."

"You sleeping will be the best thing for both of you."

Elizabeth pouted, "I'll sleep but you have to get into bed with me." She said defiantly.

Henry opened his mouth to argue about how the bed was small and he didn't want to cause a problem but he knew he was never going to win the argument. She had the upper hand and he would do anything to put her at ease. He sighed, "Okay, I'll get in bed with you but you have to try to sleep."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up and she pulled her covers back for Henry to crawl in next to her. He adjusted the bed and helped her lay on her left side before crawling into bed with her and pulling her tense body close to his. For the first time in hours he felt himself relax and once he relaxed he felt some of the tension float out of Elizabeth's body as well.

The next morning Elizabeth's bleeding had stopped and upon examination Dr. Bell was confident the bleeding had been caused by a ruptured cyst outside her uterus and the baby and Elizabeth were going to be just fine. By the afternoon Elizabeth was cleared to go home but instructed to take a week off work.

Elizabeth, of course, took that to mean she would work from home and immediately called Blake to check in.

Leaving the hospital and arriving home had not been fun, there were paparazzi everywhere looking to get a picture of a pregnant Elizabeth.

Thankfully Daisy had already crafted a message that Elizabeth immediately approved. They were telling the public that Elizabeth wanted to keep her pregnancy private due to it's high risk and she and her family would appreciate privacy in this adjustment time. They wouldn't say anything about how far along Elizabeth was or when she was due, Daisy figured it was best to keep the press guessing in that regard and Elizabeth agreed.

The kids were on edge. None of them had gone to school, they wouldn't have been able to if they'd wanted to due to the paparazzi bombardment. But Daisy would give her statement and hopefully some of them would respect the McCord's privacy.

Henry insisted on carrying his wife up the stairs and got her situated in their bed. He put on Netflix and took away the actual tv remote so Elizabeth couldn't check the news.

All the children had been thrilled their mother was home and ok. Even Jason forgot about his moody teenage angst and hugged his mother like he'd never let her go. He and Stevie had stayed downstairs, wanting to give their mother time to relax, but Ali wandered upstairs and lurked outside her parents' bedroom door.

"Alison, what are you doing out there?" Henry called.

Ali poked her head inside their bedroom, "I um…I don't know."

Elizabeth laughed and waved her daughter inside, "Come here Noodle, want to watch tv with us?"

Ali nodded and jumped into bed with her parents, getting herself situated between them and snuggling into her mother's side.

After a little while Henry decided to go downstairs and make some dinner and Ali and Elizabeth continued to watch an old sitcom Alison was completely confused about.

They made small talk with Alison occasionally asking what was going on and why one character was doing something but even though she was laughing along with her mother Elizabeth sensed something was off with her daughter, "Noodle, you can talk to me about anything, you know that right?"

Ali tensed up a little bit, "I know."

Elizabeth frowned, "Alison, I meant you _should_ talk to me about whatever you're feeling, please?"

Ali pursed her lips as she looked for the right words, "She's going to be okay, right?"

Elizabeth squeezed Ali and pulled her close, "Oh Noodle, baby girl is going to be fine. She's clearly got the McCord stubborn genes."

Ali cracked a smile, "You're sure? I just…I love her already. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her."

Elizabeth kissed her sweet daughter on top of her head, "She's going to be fine. In a few months she's going to be here and this will all be a bad memory."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean it's not upsetting now. I know you're okay and nothing was actually wrong with her but knowing something really could go wrong makes that fear so much more real."

Elizabeth kissed her daughter's head, "I know Noodle, and I know there's nothing I can say to make you feel better because I don't know what's going to happen, but being afraid isn't going to help anyone. Letting that fear control your life isn't good. I just need you to try to be strong, for me?"

Ali nodded, managing a small smile. "I can be strong for you."

"I appreciate that, Noodle. And when she's finally here and her crying wakes the whole house up in the middle of the night if any good at all comes out of this fear it might help us to remind ourselves how much we love her and how happy we are that she's here."

Ali laughed, "You sound like Dad right now." She deflected, casually wiping a rogue tear from her eye.

Elizabeth chuckled, "Well that's what happens when you've been together as long as we have." She pulled Ali in tighter for another hug.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Noodle."

The next morning Elizabeth woke up cocooned in pillows with Henry wrapped around her, his hands possessively on her belly. She didn't remember falling asleep with him, in fact she was pretty sure Alison had still been there when she fell asleep.

She wanted to turn over and watch him sleep but she didn't want to disrupt him. He needed his sleep as much as she did. She was contemplating how long she could stay like this without having to get up to pee when he began to yawn and moved just a little bit and as he stretched out his hand landed on her breast instead of her belly.

She giggled quietly to herself, "I love it when you cop a feel in the morning."

Behind her Henry blinked his eyes open and finally her words sunk in. He laughed and moved it back down her body so it was resting on her belly once again. He nuzzled his face in her neck. "Sorry babe."

She laughed, "I wasn't saying I didn't like it."

He laughed into her neck and casually moved his hand back up her body, giving her breast a playful squeeze and eliciting a girlish giggle from her. He started kissing her neck when suddenly she pulled away and got out of bed.

She turned to face him and laughed when his expression looked like that of a child who had his favorite toy taken away. "I don't understand what just happened?" He said, still half asleep and completely confused as to why she got up.

She flashed him an apologetic look, "I'm sorry! I have to pee. To be continued."

Henry didn't hesitate before he jumped up and grabbed her arm to help her to the bathroom.

Elizabeth glared at him, "Henry, I'm fine. I can walk to the bathroom."

He skipped reasoning with her and jumped right to pleading with her. "Can you just give me this?"

Elizabeth sighed, as bad as her last 30 hours had been, Henry's had been equally as bad. She scrunched up her face and resisted throwing out a sarcastic comment. "All right, thank you babe."

When she finished in the bathroom Henry helped her get cozy back in bed and she pulled him down to kiss her, her hand trailing down his chest. "We are not doing that." He said, stopping her hand in it's tracks.

Elizabeth pulled back and pouted.

Henry laughed, "We can make out but it's middle school rules."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, "What the hell is middle school rules?"

Henry shrugged, "Um….second base?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but tease him now. "You were rounding second base in middle school?!"

Henry rolled his eyes, "No! Okay high school rules."

She just couldn't help but continue to tease him. "You were feeling up girls in high school?!"

Henry threw his hands up in the air, "No! Oh my god, I can't win with you!"

Elizabeth burst out laughing, "Really, you never got to second base in high school? Because I did."

Henry's eyes grew wide, "You are evil!"

Elizabeth couldn't stop laughing, "I'm sorry, it's just so easy sometimes!" She reached for him as he pretended to brood next to her.

He couldn't pretend for long and after a minute he couldn't stop himself from smiling. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. "It's okay, make fun of me all you want. I can take it." He kissed her forehead tenderly and Elizabeth reached over to intertwine their fingers.

Henry breathed in her scent and took a deep breath. She was here and she was okay. As far as he was concerned she could tease him as much as she wanted.

Elizabeth seemed to sense what he was feeling because she turned to face him. "Thank you for staying calm through all this, I know how scared you were."

Henry smiled at her and ran his hand through her hair. "No matter what happens, I am always here for you."

* * *

Thanks a million to everyone reading and thanks a billion to everyone who leaves me a review, you have no idea how much you make my day! xx J

P.S. Just in case you're wondering, this ruptured cyst scenario is a real thing. This little scare actually happened to my sister. It's not serious but it's still scary.


	8. Chapter 8

The day after Daisy released Elizabeth's official statement regarding her pregnancy Henry had been bombarded with phone calls from Maureen and he had ignored every single one of them. Elizabeth didn't need any more stress and he just wasn't in the mood to deal with Maureen's dramatics.

Maureen's incessant calling finally stopped and it was then he got a text message from Erin. _I'm not with Maureen anymore, is it okay if I call?_

Henry smiled; Erin knew he was avoiding Maureen. Elizabeth was in the family room watching television so he went upstairs to their bathroom and called his younger sister. She picked up after the first ring and the very first words out of her mouth were, "Elizabeth is pregnant?!"

"Yes, Elizabeth is pregnant. I'm so sorry we didn't tell you sooner. We thought about it but it's a high-risk pregnancy and we wanted to hide it for as long as possible and we just didn't think Dad and Maureen could keep the secret. It was nothing against you, I just wanted to minimize their drama."

"It's okay Henry, I understand. Don't worry about Dad and Maureen, they'll get over it and it's not about them it's about you and Elizabeth and the kids. You have to do what's best for you guys."

Henry felt a wave of relief rush over him. He was incredibly grateful Erin was being so nice about this whole thing. "I appreciate that but I'm still sorry you had to find out this way. We really didn't intend for that to happen."

"As long as Elizabeth and the baby are okay I don't mind, they're okay, aren't they?"

"Yes, they're great. Elizabeth had a lot of bleeding and it was honestly terrifying but she and the baby are fine. She's off work for a week because her doctor thinks she needs to relax but everything is okay."

"You gonna tell me if you're having a boy or a girl?" Erin teased.

Henry laughed, "I will tell you if you promise not to say anything to Dad, Maureen or even Shane?" He knew Erin would be the only one who could keep this secret.

"I swear!" Erin said excitedly.

"We're having a girl."

Erin squealed on the other end of the line and Henry just laughed. "Oh, Henry that's so exciting!"

"Thanks, it is exciting! I would have been happy with another boy but honestly I was hoping for another girl."

Erin paused, unsure if she should ask her next question but unable to get it out of her head. "So…did you guys plan on having another kid?"

Henry laughed, "God no! This was a complete surprise. Honestly we're still a little bit in shock at how this happened. The doctor told us it's a 3% chance after a woman turns 45. We're just going with the whole miracle explanation. It was a tough pill to swallow initially but honestly we're thrilled."

"Are the kids okay?"

"Alison is over the moon, we figured she was going to be the wild card reaction-wise so that was a major relief. She always wanted a little sister though so I guess it makes sense. Stevie has been great. She's been so helpful and mature about everything. I'm really proud of her." Henry paused, "And Jason…well he was having issues but he seems to be getting over them."

"Well, it's a big change. I doubt it's easy to go from being the baby of the family for thirteen years to suddenly being the big brother." Erin offered.

Henry nodded; he agreed that was part of Jason's problem. "Yeah, he's finally talking to us again so hopefully we can work through all this soon." He paused, "By the way, how mad is Dad about all this?"

"He doesn't seem mad exactly. Maybe a little hurt though. Of course he's telling everyone who will listen he knew all along."

Henry rolled his eyes. Of course his father was doing that, what else did he expect? "Thanks so much Erin and again, I'm sorry we didn't tell you. I have to go but let's talk soon."

They said their goodbyes and Henry decided he might as well get all of this over at once. He called Shane and had a similar conversation to the one he had with Erin. He then called his father, who while he seemed stiff and of course made a joke about Henry and Elizabeth being the age that they were and having another kid, was civil throughout the whole thing. Frankly, Henry was surprised at how easy the conversation had gone. Though Patrick McCord was never one to let him know when his feelings were hurt. Henry still apologized and explained to his father it wasn't personal, they just wanted to protect their other children from the media for as long as possible and explained the pregnancy was high risk.

When he was finished with the rest of the family he reluctantly called Maureen. He barely got a hello in before she launched into a lecture about how offended she felt and how dare he keep that secret from the family and how silly she felt having to hear the news from her daughter who had read it online. Then she started to lecture him about having a baby at their age and about how it was irresponsible with their busy jobs. That was when Henry just couldn't take it anymore and cut her off. "Maureen, first of all you do not get a say in this pregnancy. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner and I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did but keeping this a secret was the best thing for Elizabeth and the kids and you don't get an opinion about that decision. Second of all, you have no right to tell us anything about our jobs making this an irresponsible decision because you don't know anything about them. Yes, our lives are hectic but we're going to make this work and we don't need to justify any of that to you. What I really cannot believe is the fact that something could have been seriously wrong, Elizabeth or the baby could have died, and all you can focus on is yourself and you feel hurt that we didn't keep you in the loop. You need to get over your hurt feelings and realize we are going through a rough ordeal right now and it might be nice to have some family to lean on instead of one that adds to our stress. Despite the stress, we are at a point where we are so grateful and happy for this baby and if you can't push aside your little squashed pride at being kept out of the loop and be happy for us then I don't want to hear from you."

There was nothing but silence on the other end. Henry knew better than to expect an apology from his sister but he had expected her to at least acknowledge him. He gave her a minute and then he sighed, "Call me back when you can be happy for us." And with that he hung up the phone. As pissed as he was at Maureen, he had to admit it felt kind of good to hang up on her. But that feeling passed quickly as the honesty of his words cut like a knife. They had gotten so lucky once again. Bleeding of that magnitude during pregnancy was never a good thing, but they had still lucked out that it hadn't been detrimental to Elizabeth's health or the baby's health. There were so many scenarios where everything could have gone so wrong he couldn't even bear the thought. How dare Maureen try to make him feel guilty? Sure, their lives were hectic and their jobs were unpredictable, but they were going to make it work. Henry had every confidence in them that they would make this work.

He headed downstairs and walked back into the family room. Elizabeth was lounging on the sofa eating popcorn and Henry plopped down next to her.

She looked over at him. "You talked to your family, didn't you?"

Henry rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped."

He shook his head, "No you don't need any more stress."

"Were they mad?"

"Well, Erin and Shane were fine, Dad seemed hurt but of course he was never going to acknowledge it, then there's Maureen…I sort of hung up on her."

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide, "You hung up on her?"

"She hit a nerve. She kept going on and on about how dare we keep it a secret and it was embarrassing to find out the way she did and then she called us irresponsible because of our hectic jobs and I just couldn't deal with it. I was angry because she made it about her and it's not about her, it's about us and our family. So I told her to call me back when she could be happy for us."

Elizabeth tried not to get mad about Maureen. She had been a McCord for 25 years and knew how to deal with her sister-in-law but this was taking it a step too far. "How dare she say that to you? She has no business calling us irresponsible or trying to make this about her." She paused, "Thank you for defending us."

Henry turned to his wife and smiled. "It felt good."

Elizabeth ran her hand through Henry's hair. He looked even more stressed and she knew exactly what would distract him. "Hey, I know what will take your mind off Maureen." She reached for his hand and placed it on the side of her belly and Henry's eyes lit up. This never got old.

Elizabeth laughed, "She's been tap dancing all over my bladder for twenty minutes. I have a feeling baby girl is going to be a major handful when she's old enough to walk."

Henry grabbed a pillow and lay down on the sofa so his head was right next to Elizabeth's belly and he could keep his hand on it and feel the movement. "No, you're not going to be a handful, are you baby girl?"

The kicking intensified. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Oh, _that's_ a good sign."

Henry laughed, "We can handle it."

Elizabeth ran a hand through his soft salt and pepper hair. "Yes, we certainly can."

A few days later everything was starting to get back to normal and of course Elizabeth was going stir crazy stuck in the house. Henry was being his usual loving, attentive self but magnified as he insisted on helping her with everything. She loved him for it but she had to admit it was driving her a little batty. She kept trying to tell him she was fine, no more bleeding and no more pain but Henry still insisted that for the next week she just relax and let him do everything for her. Even the kids were being calm and civil toward one another. She hadn't heard a fight between them in days and that was actually starting to give her anxiety. Even with all they unwanted media attention they had been getting the last few days, if it bothered the kids they were doing a great job of masking their annoyance, at least when she was around. She knew Henry had probably made them promise to only come to him with any issues.

She had called Blake to the house and they were conferencing with the State Department from Henry and Elizabeth's home office. While Henry didn't like it, he knew her well enough to just let her be, while also telling Blake to make sure she didn't get herself too stressed out. Blake had looked at him blankly, not sure he wanted to risk pissing off his boss by telling her she needed to relax. Henry had laughed and told him just to try his hardest to keep her calm and if he needed help he could come get him.

Even though she was a little annoyed by the fact that her family was treating her as if she was fragile, she was not above using it to get Henry to order pizza for dinner. She ate her slice of delicious, greasy meat lovers pizza and happily listened to Jason go on about a recent history assignment he thought was ridiculous. If anything good had happened out of her unfortunate scare it was that Jason seemed to be more himself. He still wasn't talking about the baby but at least he had started talking to her and Henry again and she was sure that was a step in the right direction.

Though Elizabeth seemed to bounce right back, Henry on the other hand was still harboring some anxiety about the whole ordeal. When they arrived home from the hospital Stevie had informed him that she'd been able to get the blood out of their sheets, she'd just thrown out the mattress pad because although she'd tried to get the blood out even bleach couldn't help the dark stain on the white fabric, and although she tried her hardest she'd also been unable to get it all out of the mattress and it had left a light brown stain.

Henry was so grateful Stevie had taken care of it all. He just ignored it for the first couple days. He didn't want Elizabeth to see even the remaining stain so when she seemed particularly busy with Blake one afternoon he took the bedding off to see how bad the stain was. He felt his heart sink a little when he got sight of a large brown blood outline. He hadn't really paid much attention to the blood initially, he was much more focused on getting his wife to the hospital, but he supposed he should have known there had been a lot of blood on their bedding considering it had also soaked through her sweatpants by the time they arrived at the hospital. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down but it wasn't working. He tried to tell himself that Elizabeth and the baby were fine but it didn't help. It didn't change the fact that the ugly brown stain was a reminder that despite how healthy Elizabeth was, this whole pregnancy was still high risk for his beloved wife and their new daughter.

He looked up how to get bloodstains out of a mattress and created a paste-like substance from the website that seemed most credible. Although it was slow, it seemed to work so Henry sat there scrubbing at the stain.

At some point in his quest to get the entire stain out Elizabeth wandered back upstairs. She stood in the doorway for a few minutes, frowning as she watched him scrub at the mattress. He was too focused to notice her presence, which was very unlike Henry.

She walked over and put her hands on his shoulders, startling him a bit.

"Baby, what are you doing?" She asked.

Henry sighed, "I'm trying to get this stain out. I think we're going to have to get a new mattress."

Elizabeth frowned and studied the stain, it was there but she could barely make it out. "Henry, it's fine, we don't need a new mattress. I can barely see it and the sheets and mattress pad cover it up. You don't need to keep doing this."

Henry didn't respond. He just kept scrubbing at the stain.

Elizabeth sighed and squeezed his shoulders. She then sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to still Henry's hand. "Baby, please stop."

Henry's eyes were red as he tried to hold in his emotions and Elizabeth's heart broke for him. He had been strong for her and now it was her turn to be strong for him. She reached for his left hand and she intertwined their fingers. "Henry, please look at me?"

He reluctantly turned and looked her in the eyes. She smiled down at him and ran a hand through his hair. "Baby girl and I are fine. This whole thing could have been devastating but it wasn't. We're lucky. Baby girl is not even fazed by this; she's doing gymnastics atop my bladder again as we speak. I think it's her new favorite thing to do."

Henry managed a small laugh and Elizabeth pulled his hand up to her belly and he perked up even more at the slight movements.

"See? She's doing great and so am I. I know that was scary Henry, but it's over and we have to move on. We can't dwell on this. We just have to move forward."

Henry knew she was right, worrying wasn't going to do them any good, but knowing that and acting on it were two very different things.

Elizabeth knew exactly what Henry was thinking, they had been married twenty-five years and she could read him like a book.

"How about we put the bedding back on and if we have to think about this stain we just let it remind us of how lucky we are to have three healthy kids and a healthy baby on the way? We can't change what happened but we don't have to let it cast a shadow on all the other amazing things that have happened and are going to happen."

Henry smiled and moved over to his wife so he was kneeling between her legs. He wrapped his arms tightly around her small body and rested his head gently against her belly. "I know you're right and I promise I'll try not to worry so much."

Elizabeth tenderly ran her hand through Henry's hair, "That's all I ask."

When Elizabeth finally got to go back to work she was grateful to get out of the house but not thrilled to be dealing with the blowback from trying to hide her pregnancy. She had instructed Daisy to not give out any more details than they had previously agreed upon and as far as she was concerned that was the end of the discussion. She wasn't going to talk about anything further.

She had a fairly easy first day back and when she arrived home she was in a particularly good mood.

As Elizabeth changed out of her work clothes, Henry eyed his wife suspiciously. She was cheery as she changed and animatedly discussed nursery decorations.

She turned around to look at Henry when he didn't respond to a question of hers and noticed he had a funny look on his face. "Why on earth are you staring at me like that?"

"You are in a strangely good mood for having only been back at your extremely stressful job for only a day. Did someone give you real coffee?"

Elizabeth laughed, "No! I'm in a good mood because I finally realized the upside of being pregnant while being Secretary of State. No one tries to reach out and touch my bump and if they did one of my agents would tackle them! It's the best thing ever. All pregnant women should have a security agent."

"I'm happy you feel that way, babe." Henry said with a laugh.

Elizabeth finished changing and walked to her husband and wrapped her arms around him, curling into his warmth. "Hey, want to talk about names again?"

Henry groaned, it seemed like every day Alison was suggesting some new crazy name and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what she had suggested to her mother this time.

Elizabeth laughed at Henry's reaction. "I'm not suggesting anything new. I swear. I was just thinking that even though Ali keep suggesting crazy names you and I really keep circling around the same few and I have a favorite and I'm pretty sure you do too…so how about we share?"

Henry led Elizabeth over to their bed and they both sat down before he responded. He had a serious look of contemplation before a smile crept onto his face. He turned to face Elizabeth. "Katharine. Katharine is my favorite. I like other names but I always find myself going back to Katharine. It's traditional but still pretty and I'm just in love with Kate as a nickname. Kate McCord. It sounds perfect."

Elizabeth scrunched up her face in an effort to trick him into thinking she didn't agree. But she couldn't keep up the charade and she started laughing. "Honestly, I am really glad you said that because my two favorites are Caroline and Katharine. But now you have me thinking about how much I like Kate as a nickname so Katharine might have just sneaked ahead a little bit."

Henry laughed, "That's lucky because Caroline is probably my second favorite. Though it's not really surprising because we never really had a problem agreeing on names."

"Okay…well then maybe we just officially narrowed it down to two choices?"

Henry laughed and wrapped an arm around his wife, squeezing her shoulders gently. "I think we just narrowed it down to two choices."

Elizabeth rested her head on Henry's shoulder. She couldn't stop smiling. She was overjoyed they were getting close to picking a name.

Henry kissed the top of her head and suddenly he had an idea, "What if since you and I both agree on those two names we let the kids decide?"

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, "You mean let them pick whether their sister is a Katharine or a Caroline?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah, I think we take a little time and think about both of those names just to make sure and then we ask them to choose."

Elizabeth thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I really like that idea. I think it would be pretty special for the kids to get to pick. That's a great idea, babe."

"Also maybe we tell them to think about it up until baby girl is born and then they can tell us what they've picked and we can look at her and know right away if it's going to work or not?"

Elizabeth smiled, "That is the perfect plan. Thank you, babe."

After two weeks Henry and Elizabeth knew they were set on their daughter being either a Katharine or a Caroline and they decided to tell their kids the plan. They gathered them all in the kitchen for a family meeting.

"Dad and I have officially narrowed our name options down to two and instead of picking the final one ourselves we want you three to make the final decision."

Stevie and Alison's eyes both lit up, "Are you serious? That's so cool! Thank you!" Alison squealed as she threw her arms around her mother.

"What did you narrow down the choices to?" Stevie asked impatiently. She was too excited to contain herself.

"Katharine, we'd call her Kate, and Caroline. We haven't decided on a middle name yet because your Dad won't stop arguing with me about Elizabeth, but that's beside the point. We're really love it if you guys chose for us."

Ali squealed, "Ohhh Caroline! I like Caroline!"

"No!" Stevie said enthusiastically, smacking Ali playfully on the arm, "Katharine! It sounds regal!"

"Are you serious? Caroline is literally a princess' name!"

While the girls argued about the named Elizabeth turned to Jason, "Jase, what do you think?"

Jason shrugged, "Stevie and Alison can decide, I don't care."

Jason's words cut deep and Elizabeth felt like she could cry. The girls stopped arguing as they noticed their mother's hurt expression and immediately started to criticize Jason for his lack of interest.

"Okay, okay," Henry said loudly as he held up his hands to stop the bickering. "Jason, how about you and I have a little conversation over here?"

Henry walked an annoyed Jason into the dining room. He didn't know what was going on with his son. Things had been better with Jason the last couple weeks and he thought their youngest was finally coming to terms with becoming an older brother. Apparently Henry had been wrong and he was officially fed up. "You know what Jason, we've been nice and understanding, we've let you react the way you needed to but it's getting old. This is happening, you are going to have a little sister in a couple months whether you like it or not. What is going on with you? You have to talk to us about this stuff, we want to help you get through it but we can't do that if you don't communicate with us."

Jason scoffed, "What does it matter? You guys barely have any time for us right now, when the baby comes you're not going to have any time at all."

Henry sighed, "Buddy, that's not true. Yeah, it's going to be a big change and it's going to take a lot of getting used to but we're not going to forget about you."

Jason rolled his eyes, "You say that now but you can't promise that. I may not have ever been around a baby before but I know how much work they are. As much as you want to convince yourselves that you're going to have time for us you know she's always going to come first because she's the baby."

Suddenly Elizabeth's voice wafted through the room, "Jason, that's not true and you are always going to be my baby. Nothing will ever change that. You're right, baby girl is going to take up most of our time but us being around her doesn't mean we can't be with you at the same time and it certainly doesn't mean you aren't a priority. We all get to spend time together as a family. Dad's right, this adjustment is going to be difficult but it's also going to be so much fun. You get to be the cool big brother! Think about how great it's going to be to have a little sister who adores you, because you know she's going to adore you. I know you guys are a lot older and that makes it a little weird but it's also pretty amazing. She's going to be able to come to you guys for advice and you can tell her how to deal with Dad and me when we're driving her crazy. I know this isn't something you ever expected, and I'll say this again and you better believe me, you will always be my baby. But one more kid in the family doesn't suddenly mean we have less love for you. In fact we probably have even more. You are such a wonderful kid and baby girl is going to be so lucky to grow up with you as her big brother."

A hint of a smile flickered on Jason's face and Elizabeth stepped forward to wrap her arm around him, "Jason, we love you so much and we need you to understand that we are always here for you and if you ever feel like we're not giving you enough attention please just talk to us? We're not asking you to suddenly be thrilled about all this, we're just asking you to come around to the idea because it's happening one way or another and it's going to be a lot easier on all of us if you're okay with it all. So please, try and to talk to us when something is bothering you instead of shutting us out."

Jason nodded his head, "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll try to talk to you guys about what I'm feeling."

"It's okay buddy, just don't shut us out. We can help you with this, you just have to give us a chance. Ask us questions, ask Stevie and Alison questions, we're all here for you."

Henry wrapped his arm around Jason and looked at his wife over the boy's head. Elizabeth looked so relieved and he shared that relief. It was out in the open now and Henry had every confidence Jason just needed some reassurance from his parents. Henry promised himself he would make sure even though their lives were about to get even crazier he would always make time to remind his children how much he loved them.

* * *

As always, thanks for reading. It means the world to me. And extra thanks to everyone who reviews. I have so much fun writing these stories and when I know you're enjoying them it makes me so unbelievably happy! xx J


	9. Chapter 9

Henry McCord could barely keep his eyes open as he stood in front of the coffee maker. Elizabeth had been given the all clear by her doctor and just in time as she hit her third trimester and for her that typically meant she couldn't keep her hands off Henry. She had left for work a little while earlier and Henry just couldn't stomach her decaf coffee this morning. He needed the real thing.

Stevie and Elizabeth had been chatting enthusiastically about something when he'd come downstairs and he hadn't even been able to feign enthusiasm. He had just walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a huge cup. That was when he remembered it was decaf and would do nothing for him. So after Elizabeth left he had dumped out the decaf and started on some regular coffee.

The minute the fully caffeinated coffee hit his lips he already felt better. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief as the hot liquid rushed down his throat.

Stevie walked back into the kitchen and raised her eyebrows, "Did you make regular coffee?"

Henry groaned, "Can we just keep this between you and me for today? I'm exhausted."

Stevie frowned; her father did look more tired than usual. "Are you okay?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

Henry nodded, "Yeah, sweetheart I'm fine. I didn't get much sleep last night. I went to bed late and then your Mom woke me up and you know how you're so tired that you can't sleep? That happened for a while. Then she woke me up again this morning."

Stevie was confused for a moment; her mother had been downright cheerful this morning. She thought about it for a minute and then she realized what her Dad meant. "Oh god Dad, I don't want to know about that stuff!"

Henry chuckled, "Um, you do realize that's how babies are made?"

Stevie shook her head, as if that would help get the unfortunate image out of her brain. "Ugh yes but it's one thing to know it's happening and block it out of my mind and a whole other thing for you to confirm it happened."

"Hey, you were the one who jumped to the conclusion. I never told you. But I am sorry I alluded to it. I'm exhausted and it affects my filter."

Stevie smiled, "It's fine. I'm sorry. I'm an adult. I should be able to be more of an adult about this stuff."

Henry laughed and reached over to squeeze his daughter's shoulder reassuringly. "No you shouldn't. I don't care how old you are, it's never not weird to hear about your parents' sex life."

Stevie smiled, "Thank god. I honestly don't think any level of maturity would prepare me for that."

Henry pulled Stevie close and kissed her head. "No, it shouldn't. I'm sorry kiddo." He paused, "Hey, I've been meaning to tell you this and I know Mom and I don't say it enough but I need you to know that we're really grateful for everything you're doing to help us through this and we're so incredibly proud the way you've stepped up. We don't know what we'd do without you, kid."

"I've caused you trouble for twenty-one years, the least I can do is help prepare you for another twenty-one years because Mom's pretty positive baby girl is going to be a handful."

Henry laughed, "Yeah, she's pretty sure about that because you were the exact same way when she was pregnant, non-stop movement!"

Stevie laughed, "Well at least this time you know what's coming."

"That we do. You're doing okay with everything still, right?"

Stevie smiled, "Dad, I'm great. I swear."

"You're happy in your new room?"

Stevie laughed and turned to face her Dad. "I am thrilled in my new room. You're going to have to kick me out of the house if you ever want me out of there."

Henry sighed, he was glad Stevie was enjoying her new room. "No, we'll never kick you out. We might eventually make you work off rent in babysitting though."

"Well, I'm happy to babysit anyway so I think that's a fair compromise."

Henry laughed, "Thanks kid. Have you talked to Jason about the names or anything else for that matter?"

She nodded, "A little bit. I asked him what name he preferred and he told me what he was leaning toward but that he wasn't sure. He hasn't asked me anything else though. Also I'm not telling you which name he's currently favoring because you guys said not to tell you until baby girl is born."

Henry sighed; his daughter was stubborn like her mother and she definitely wasn't going to give him any hints. He held up his hands in surrender, "I don't want to know what he likes best. I'd just appreciate it if you'd maybe try to get him to talk about this even a little bit. He seems like he's okay now but he still hasn't really talked about it."

Stevie nodded, "I will bring it up as casually as possible."

Henry leaned in to give his daughter one more kiss on the head, "Thanks sweetheart. I appreciate it." Henry smiled at his beautiful oldest daughter. He was incredibly proud of her and incredibly grateful for her help throughout this whole process.

The day the furniture came for the nursery was a Saturday and Elizabeth had been called into work. Henry didn't want her near any tools or paint anyway so it ended up working out perfectly. He managed to get the girls and even Jason to agree to help him set everything up before Elizabeth arrived home.

Stevie and Alison were currently working on stocking the changing table and dresser, Jason was sorting stacks of baby clothes, linens and blankets to be washed, and Henry was putting together the crib.

"Not to sound like a complainer, but I'm pretty sure just this changing table had to cost more than all the furniture for Ali, Jase and me combined." Stevie said casually.

Henry looked at the beautiful white crib with the delicate tufted sides he was building, then over to the beautiful changing table Elizabeth had picked out and then up at his oldest, "That's maybe a slight exaggeration but you're probably not far off. We were young and poor." He said with a shrug and a smile.

Stevie laughed, she almost shot back a quip about her Dad now being old and well off but he was a little sensitive about his age currently so she decided it was in her best interest to keep her mouth shut on the subject. "Did Mom just pick a page out of a Pottery Barn catalogue and order everything?"

Henry pursed his lips. "Um...pretty much."

"How come baby clothes have to be washed before they're worn?" Jason suddenly asked, surprising everyone else. He had been quiet all morning.

"Well buddy, it's really just a precaution in case there's something on the fabric that could irritate the baby's skin."

Jason just nodded his understanding and went back to sorting the clothing.

Henry just sort of looked at the kid for a moment, not knowing whether he should say something further. He eventually decided against it and just went back to work. Jason was in the room, actively helping, had actually asked a question about the baby and he hadn't complained once. Henry knew that was a step in the right direction.

They got the furniture up and several loads of laundry done and Henry decided to make them all lunch while the kids figured out how to arrange the decorations.

They had clearly gotten nowhere on the name situation because Stevie had come home the other night with a big wooden K and a C. Ali had picked out all kinds of pretty fabric and put them in sewing hoops and they would surround the letter above the crib. They then had the traditional keepsake decorations they would fill with handprints and pictures once baby girl was born. For one wall the girls had come up with an adorable idea to surprise their mother. They had found pictures of all of the kids as babies and enlarged and framed them all to surround a new family picture they would take as soon as the baby arrived. Then they had found keepsakes from their own childhoods and paired them with the photographs. Everything looked really great and Henry was very proud of his kids.

By dinnertime the room looked wonderful and all the kids-even Jason-were excited for their mother to come home and see their handiwork.

When Elizabeth arrived home the kids immediately dragged her up to the nursery. Elizabeth was of course blown away by all the work they had done. There were tears and hugs and even more tears as Elizabeth thanked her wonderful family.

Later that night Elizabeth and Henry were curled up together in bed. "I see they bought a C and a K. I thought they'd be a little easier to read about the name but I didn't really get a read that they're leaning either way just yet."

"Honestly I think they're nowhere near close to choosing. I'm sure Stevie and Alison are both dead set on one name and refuse to budge. But I think we should go with my initial suggestion of using Elizabeth as a middle name no matter what they choose."

Elizabeth smacked her husband lightly. "We are not doing this again, Henry. I don't want her to be an Elizabeth."

"She's not going to be an Elizabeth. She's going to be a Katharine or a Caroline. It's just a middle name." He teased.

Elizabeth sighed and rolled her eyes, "Henry, come on. Let's move past this. If they choose Katharine, I think she should be Katharine Charlotte and if they choose Caroline, I think she should be Caroline Marissa."

Henry leaned in to kiss his wife softly. He wasn't giving up on the idea of Elizabeth as a middle name but he didn't want to fight with his wife right now. They had plenty of time to figure this out.

Soon Henry and Elizabeth realized they were going to have to figure out her maternity leave and Elizabeth was dreading it. She technically could take three months but she knew she wasn't going to be able to take that much time. It would be impossible. She knew six weeks was probably going to be her max and that thought was depressing.

The only other person she had discussed maternity leave with other than Henry was Nadine; she couldn't talk to Conrad about it until she was sure what she was going to do.

She had a long day at work and she didn't want to talk about it but she knew they were going to have to.

"Hey babe!" Henry said brightly as he walked into the house and found his wife surveying the contents of the refrigerator.

She turned around and smiled at him. She saw bags in his hand and her eyes lit up. "Hi babe, did you bring food?"

Henry laughed at his wife's reaction and he held them up. "Don't get too excited. It's salad." Elizabeth frowned so Henry quickly added, "But I also got you ice cream."

Her eyes lit up, "I would be happy to eat that salad in its entirety." She grabbed the bag from him and didn't even bother to put the salad on a plate she just went to town.

Henry watched her start to scarf down the salad and figured this was as good of a time as any to bring up his plan. "Hey, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Elizabeth just looked up at him, mouth full of salad, no doubt figuring the faster she ate the faster she could get to the ice cream.

Henry laughed and reached for her fork, "Slow down, the ice cream is going nowhere and you don't have to share it, but if you keep shoveling that into your mouth you're going to puke."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him but nonetheless took his advice and slowed her pace. "Okay, what do we need to talk about?"

Henry figured the best way to approach the subject was just to be straightforward. "I'm going to take a sabbatical next semester so I can stay home with baby girl."

Elizabeth paused to think about Henry's suggestion. She obviously loved the idea. This was the ideal situation. Henry taking a semester sabbatical in addition to his regular summer off would give him over eight months with their daughter and that was incredible. But it also filled her with overwhelming jealousy that she was going to get so little time with their daughter while Henry would be there for everything. She couldn't help herself when she started crying.

Henry raced around the counter to her and pulled her into his arms. He led her over to the living room and sat her down on the sofa.

"Babe, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I thought you'd be happy."

Elizabeth caught her breath, "I am happy, I swear I'm so happy you're going to do this but I'm just jealous that you get to do this and I don't."

Henry sighed, he had been so excited upon realizing that he would be able to take a sabbatical to spend with his new daughter that he forgot his wife was looking at the shortest maternity leave she had ever taken.

He wrapped his arms around his wife and let her cry against his shoulder. "I'm sorry, baby." There wasn't really anything he could say to make this better for her.

She calmed herself down and caught her breath. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. This is wonderful. I'm so happy you're going to be home with her, it makes me feel so much better. I'm just sad you get to do all that and I can't. Which I know is crazy because I knew this was coming. Damn hormones."

Henry nodded, "I know. I'm sorry, babe. But maybe we can make this all work. When you have really long days I can bring her into the office. We can do this. I'll make sure you don't miss everything."

Elizabeth nodded. She wanted to believe Henry and she appreciated everything he was willing to do for her but she knew he couldn't prevent her from missing important moments. That was just the way it was going to be.

The next night Henry came home and found Elizabeth sitting in their bedroom, papers surrounding her.

"Hey babe, how's it going?" Henry asked, a huge smile on his face as he walked into the room.

Elizabeth cocked her head, analyzing Henry's chipper demeanor. "Why do you look so happy?"

Henry sat down on the bed and laughed, "Can't a guy just be happy to see his beautiful wife?" He said as he leaned in to kiss her.

She laughed, "Yeah but you look like you did something sneaky…or something sexy but I'm hoping it's the former considering we haven't seen each other all day."

Henry shook his head, "It's neither, and you know I have no interest in doing anything sneaky or sexy unless it's with you." He said, batting his eyes at her.

Elizabeth rolled hers, "Why am I still attracted to you when you're this cheesy?"

Henry shrugged, "Because even after 28 years together you're still not ready to admit that deep down you love how cheesy I am?"

Elizabeth laughed, "You must be right about that. Now, what is going on with you?"

Henry pulled a wrapped present out from behind his back and Elizabeth's eyes lit up and she tossed her papers to the side and grabbed for it. Henry couldn't help but smile as she tore into the packaging like a little kid on Christmas. She ripped off the paper and she studied the box, slightly confused. "Tiny video cameras?" She looked up at him, "Didn't we learn our lesson with the sex tape from last time? It never looks as good on camera as we think it's going to and plus I think this belly would make it a whole lot worse."

Henry could not stop laughing, "No babe, that is not even close to what the cameras are for. I'm going to put one in baby girl's room, one in the kitchen, one in the family room and one in our office. There's an app the cameras connect to and you just download it on your phone and when you're back at work all you have to do is open the app and it will give you a video feed of baby girl. I even cleared it with your IT team and they're going to make sure you have no problems accessing it whenever you need."

Elizabeth just stared down at the gift and started to cry. Trust Henry to give her the most thoughtful gift in the world. She set the box in front of her and tried her best to sit up so she could reach Henry but it was more difficult than she anticipated. She sighed, looked up at Henry and held her arms open, "Will you please come to me so I can kiss you?"

Henry laughed and moved over on the bed to reach Elizabeth. She grabbed his cheeks and pulled him in for a searing kiss. Henry wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

She finally pulled back to catch her breath, "I love you so much."

Henry smiled, "I love you too. You're an amazing Mom and even though you have to work a lot you do what you do to make the world a better place and this kid is going to know that and she's going to love you so much because it's not about the quantity of time you spend with her it's about the quality."

* * *

I'm posting this from the ladies room at the courthouse. I know you were all dying to know that! Anyway...this was a little shorter than usual because I have had absolutely no time this week. It was a minor miracle I got this finished. I figured posting a shorter chapter was better than nothing so I hope you enjoy this & please let me know what you think! It makes me so happy to know that you're reading & enjoying my work & I'm so grateful for all the encouragement! Thanks so much for taking the time to read my little stories! x J


	10. Chapter 10

It was Saturday morning and Elizabeth lay in her bed curled up only in a large shirt of Henry's, one that was still strained over her belly. She was just past seven months pregnant and fairly uncomfortable. It felt like the baby had doubled in size overnight. She ran her hand over her belly and grimaced, "Baby girl, that is my kidney you're kicking." She squeezed her eyes shut. At this rate she was going to have to get up and use the bathroom for what felt like the hundredth time that hour. The baby just ignored her mother and kept kicking. "Maybe I'll try a name out on you and see if you respond to one of those...Caroline will you please stop kicking my kidney?" She paused and the baby just continued her dance. Elizabeth sighed, "Okay, Katharine will you please stop kicking my kidney?" Still nothing. "Well one of those is going to be your name so you better learn to answer to one." She joked. She wished Henry were home. His voice was so soothing and calm he could no doubt get their baby girl to at least shift her focus away from her mother's kidney. Thankfully after a moment more the baby decided to leave Elizabeth's kidney alone. Elizabeth sighed in relief, "Thank you baby girl. Now if you could just take a little nap, Mommy would very much appreciate it because she needs to relax."

The baby seemed to sympathize with her mother and calmed down a bit, allowing Elizabeth to close her eyes and start the meditation techniques Henry had taught her so she could clear her mind. She was stressed about work right now and she needed to calm down. All she wanted to do was clear her mind for just a little while.

A little while later Henry came back from his workout to find his gorgeous wife still lying in their bed. She was lying on her side, his t-shirt hitting at the top of her beautiful legs. He knew she currently felt the opposite of beautiful but to him she was always the most beautiful woman on earth. He walked around to her side of the bed and couldn't stop grinning at her. She had her body pillow tucked under her belly and between her legs. It was the only way she could get comfortable lately. He kneeled down beside her, ran a hand through her hair and kissed her temple. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at the sight of her handsome husband. "Hi babe. How was your workout?"

He nodded, "It was good. How are you doing?" He asked, caressing her cheek tenderly.

Elizabeth sighed in frustration, "Better now that you're back. Will you come lie with me?"

Henry ran a hand through her messy hair, "Of course, just let me shower really quick."

He moved to stand up but she grabbed his t-shirt and pulled him back down. "No, no you don't have to shower."

Henry raised his eyebrows, "Um, babe, I'm a little sweaty."

Elizabeth bit her lip, "Yeah, well maybe I think it's kind of hot, you're all chiseled and musky and it's really doing it for me."

Henry laughed but moved to sit down on the edge of the bed. He almost protested but he thought better of it, he could never refuse his beautiful wife. He got up and tossed his sweaty shirt into the bathroom before climbing into bed with his wife.

Elizabeth giggled, "Oh yeah, that's what I like."

Elizabeth snuggled into his embrace, resting her head on his bicep. He wrapped his other hand around her body, rubbing soothing circles over her belly. He then started kissing her neck, making his way around her hairline to behind her ear. Elizabeth felt content for the first time all morning. Henry could always make her feel better.

Later that afternoon Elizabeth, Henry and the girls sat down to watch a movie and Elizabeth was getting a bowl of ice cream in the kitchen when Jason came down the stairs. Elizabeth paused, "Hey baby."

He smiled at his mother and her heart soared.

"Hey Mom, what are you doing?"

"Dad, your sisters and I are about to watch a movie. Do you want to join us?"

Jason thought about her offer and then nodded, "Sure." He paused, "Hey Dad said you weren't feeling very well this morning…are you okay?"

Elizabeth wanted to run over to him and hug him but she didn't want to scare him off. It took everything in her to just smile at him like a normal person and answer. "Yeah sweetie, I'm fine. Baby girl was just fussy."

He pursed his lips as if he was trying to find the right words, "Is that normal?"

She couldn't help herself and wrapped an arm around her son's shoulders. He didn't move away. "Yeah, of course. You know who was the worst?"

Jason frowned, "It wasn't me. It had to be Stevie or Ali."

Elizabeth laughed, "What do you think? Of course it was Stevie!"

"Hey! I heard that!" Stevie called from the family room.

Elizabeth and Jason both couldn't contain their laughter as they walked into the family room to start the movie. It was a small step but Jason seemed to be coming around and that made her so incredibly happy.

That Monday at work Elizabeth wasn't having any better of a time than she had been having over the weekend. The baby finally seemed to settle down for the day and Elizabeth was grateful for the lack of pressure on her bladder. She was sitting in her office going over talking points for her next press conference with Daisy when she suddenly let out a yelp.

Daisy looked up at her boss, concern flooding her face. "Ma'am, are you okay?" She sat forward in her chair, ready to take off and inform Blake quickly if something was wrong.

Elizabeth smiled and laughed, "Yes, I'm fine. She just surprised me by kicking my bladder and now she's up and moving again.

Daisy's eyes lit up a little bit. She had been going a little baby crazy over the last year and though her breakup with Win had only put her plans on hold, it hadn't doused her desire to have a family. So she couldn't help but be a little jealous of her boss.

Elizabeth looked at Daisy, analyzing her expression. Daisy looked almost envious. "Come here," Elizabeth said as she waved her press secretary over.

Daisy looked confused but did as her boss asked. Elizabeth grabbed Daisy's hand and put it on the side of her belly where her daughter was kicking.

Daisy's eyes lit up and a huge smile formed on her face, "Oh my gosh, that's incredible." She paused, wanting to ask a question but not sure if she should.

Elizabeth seemed to read her mind, "It doesn't hurt exactly. It's a little frustrating when she constantly moves though. Sometimes it catches me off guard and when she hits an organ it becomes uncomfortable but most of the time it's not painful. Unless she decides to stomp on my bladder when it's full, that is never fun."

Daisy laughed and reluctantly removed her hand and made her way back to her chair.

"You have plenty of time, Daisy. Waiting is hard but when you meet the right person it will all be worth it. I swear."

Daisy smiled, "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate that."

Blake walked into the office, ruining their little bonding moment. "Ma'am, Dr. McCord just arrived to take you to your appointment."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Henry insisted on picking her up so he could make sure he got her out of the office. Blake already had to help Elizabeth with more than he should and Henry didn't want him to have to deal with trying to get Elizabeth out of the office when she had other things she could be doing.

The appointment was just a checkup but ever since their scare it was important for them to have that reassurance that everything was progressing normally. Today was the day they were also going to go through her plan. One of the things Elizabeth liked most about Dr. Christine Bell was her honesty. She was straightforward with the McCords and that gave Elizabeth a major sense of relief. She had gone through every situation thoroughly. They had a whole plan in place. Different scenarios for everything they could think of so nothing would come as a surprise.

Elizabeth and Henry were on top of all their baby preparations so when Dr. Bell floated to them the idea of updating guardian documents for their children they suddenly realized that was one big step they had forgotten.

They were both silent on their way home from the appointment. They both knew this was something they had to talk about but that didn't make the idea of actually talking about it any easier.

Henry was the first one to bridge the silence as they were changing into their loungewear before heading down for dinner. "Babe, I know it's difficult but we have to talk about a guardian."

Elizabeth felt nauseous. Talking about what would happen if she and Henry died and left their three older children was painful enough but the thought of leaving three older children and a little baby was physically painful. Just the thought of not being able to get to know their new daughter and watch her grow up made her physically sick. Unfortunately though it was an awful alternate reality they had to plan for. Her job was completely unpredictable and Henry's DIA gig wasn't exactly risk free. They had to appoint a guardian even if thinking about someone else raising their daughter made them sick.

Elizabeth sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. "Okay, you're right. We just have to power through it."

Henry sat down next to her and took her hand in his own. "Where the hell do we even start?"

Elizabeth laughed, "I don't know. Who would Jason and Ali even go to? Did we ever do this for them and Stevie?"

"Well, they all have godparents who are friends but we never actually used them as possible guardians. I'm fairly certain they would have gone to my mother."

Elizabeth frowned. She found herself missing Ailis McCord frequently over the course of her pregnancy and she knew Henry was feeling the same way. She squeezed his hand. "Oh, that's right. Okay, well no offense to your Dad but none of our children are going to him."

Henry laughed, "No offense taken, I wasn't even considering him as an option."

"And there's no way in hell this kid is going to Maureen. She'd grow up thinking something ridiculous like I died just to spite Maureen."

Henry shook his head, "Absolutely not. There's no way in hell baby girl is going to Maureen. Shane's got too much going on. I'd say Erin but I have a feeling Maureen would mess that up somehow."

Elizabeth sighed. Henry was right. "Okay, well she can't go to Will."

"Why not? Sophie's wonderful and Annie's a great kid."

"True, but that's exactly the problem. Will isn't going to be around. Sophie would be doing all the work. Plus in the event that something bad does happen to us I want baby girl to stay with the other kids and I don't think them all moving to England, except Stevie most likely since she's an adult, is exactly a good idea."

"Babe, you're overthinking it. This is just precautionary. They're not actually going to have to go live with Sophie."

Elizabeth smacked Henry lightly on the shoulder, "Do not say things like that and jinx us. I hate talking about this as much as you do but I want to be completely prepared for anything. We owe our kids that much. My parents didn't think anything like that could happen and look at how well that turned out?"

Henry's heart broke for his wife. She hadn't had a bad upbringing by any means but she had a lonely one and he knew she didn't want that for their children. Elizabeth was right. As painful as it was to think about something happening to them and leaving their children without parents it was a situation they needed to deal with. "Okay, well can we at least keep Sophie on the table?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, I mean honestly at this point I don't know who else could take all of them. Most of our friends are older and they're not going to want even the possibility of taking care of two teenagers and a baby."

Henry rubbed his temples. This was getting stressful. "Okay, well honestly I think right now we're down to Sophie or Erin unless you can think of someone else."

Elizabeth rubbed her fingers in circles over her temples. "Let's just think about it for a couple days, okay?" She was tired and this whole conversation was depressing her. She turned to Henry, wrapped her arms around his middle and nuzzled her head against his shoulder. "Actually how about you just promise me you're going to live forever and then we don't have to deal with this?"

Henry wrapped his arms tightly around his wife and ran his hand through her hair in a soothing manner. "If I could promise that you know I would. But you'd have to promise it too because I don't want to live forever if I have to live without you."

Elizabeth smiled against Henry's chest, "Soooo cheesy." She looked up at him, "I love you, Henry McCord."

Elizabeth spent the next day at work preoccupied, thinking about who would raise her children if she and Henry both died. It was grim and it was making her grumpy and snarkier than usual.

She got home a little late to find Stevie in the kitchen reheating the evening's meal for her mother. She made sure her mother sat down while she got her meal ready for her and as she worked she explained that she had sent her father out for more ice cream, Jason and Alison were both studying in their rooms and she was off to a study session at school.

Henry walked in the door just as Stevie walked out. "Hey babe!" He said brightly upon seeing his wife.

"Stevie." Elizabeth exclaimed.

Henry turned to her and raised his eyebrows. "I'm _Henry_. I'm your husband. Did you accidentally put on a very old pair of glasses or is this pregnancy brain?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and chose to ignore her husband's teasing."Stevie, as baby girl's godmother and guardian."

Henry set his bag down on the counter and stared at his wife, his prior joking manner was gone. "That's….why the hell didn't we think of that yesterday?"

Elizabeth laughed and got up to walk over to her husband. "I have no idea. It sort of just hit me. I know she's only 21 and that's young but if something happens to us I don't want this little girl being taken away from the only family she's got left. I like Sophie a lot but I'd rather this baby be with her siblings and Erin is great but the Maureen thing still makes me unsure."

Henry laughed, "Yeah, I um, I hate to say that I agree with that. I _really_ don't want Maureen raising our daughter."

"If god forbid something happens to us I don't want baby girl to grow up with anyone but her siblings.

Henry nodded and wrapped his arm around his wife, "I agree. I think it's a great idea. We can wait to ask her about it until after baby girl arrives. That might give her a little more perspective as to what she could be getting herself into. I feel like she'd say yes right away if we asked her now and I don't think that's fair of us."

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her husband, "Yeah, I don't want to make her feel like she has to do this for us." She paused, "Then if she says yes we can guilt her into taking the other two as well."

Henry laughed, "I think that's a brilliant idea, babe."

He leaned over and kissed his wife's forehead. "I feel good about this babe. Obviously I hope this plan never becomes necessary, but I feel better knowing baby girl will stay with Stevie if God forbid something ever does happen to us."

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, let's not talk about it any more though because even though we have a plan it's still bumming me out. Believe it or not, talking about our deaths is not appealing."

Henry laughed, "What a disappointment. I thought it would such a great time."

"I know, the one thing we can't make fun!" She turned to look up at Henry, her face getting serious again. "I love you, babe."

Henry leaned in to kiss her lightly. "I love you, too."

* * *

Ailis (the name I chose for Henry's mother) is pronounced Ay-lish. It's an Irish name. I wanted Henry's mother to have a nice, pretty Irish name. If you've seen Brooklyn you'll remember the main characters name is Eilis (pronounced the same way) and I just thought it was lovely. Also Ailis and Alison are close so that might be a thing for another chapter!

As always, thank you SO much for reading and please let me know how I'm doing! x J


	11. Chapter 11

Good evening lovelies! Sorry I've been gone so long! Usually when I'm away I have more time to write but one of my best friends from college lives here and all my free time has been spent with her because I haven't seen her in two years! So to make up for my absence this chapter is extra long!

This chapter is for my amazing sisters for giving me all these details I never wanted to know and for the nieces & nephews I adore. And it's for the three little blessings that came into my crazy family this year: Silas, Noura, & Sawyer. I love you little monsters.

Hope everyone enjoys this chapter & as always thanks for sticking with me!

* * *

Elizabeth was sitting upright in bed, pillows surrounding her as she read through a thick binder. Henry walked into the room and smiled at the sight in front of him. She was exhausted but she still looked radiant and she had a pair of headphones over her belly.

Henry crawled onto the bed next to her and put his head close to the headphones to see what she had their little girl listening to today.

He grinned when he heard the music, "Magical Mystery Tour kind of day?" He asked.

Elizabeth put her binder down and smiled, "Yeah, I know they say classical music is good but I think she likes The Beatles best. It seems to keep her from pressing on my bladder."

Henry grinned, "Well, she's a smart girl already."

Elizabeth sighed and leaned back into the headboard as Henry rubbed her belly soothingly. "What's the matter, babe?"

She frowned, "I'm just feeling bad. This is supposed to be a magical time and it was when I was in my 20's and early 30's but there's a reason why so few women in their 40's do this, I'm exhausted and I want my body back. Then I think those thoughts and I feel incredibly guilty and ungrateful and I am grateful for her I just want her to be here so I can have my body back."

Henry scooted up and wrapped his arm around his wife, "Babe, it's okay you feel that way. No one is questioning your gratitude for this baby girl and if they are, well you just tell me and I will deal with them."

Elizabeth laughed and turned her head to kiss him lightly, "I love you so much."

"I love you too and your due date is just around the corner. She will be here in no time."

Elizabeth sighed, "Oh god and as much as I want my body back I really don't want to think about having to push a human out of it."

"You've done it three times. You know what's going on, you've got a great doctor, you've got this babe."

Elizabeth smiled at Henry. He was so sweet and supportive and just trying to help and she appreciated it but that didn't make her any less nervous. She had less than four weeks to go and while she was thrilled to be so close to the end of her pregnancy she also wanted her daughter to take her sweet time. The closer she was to her due date the better in regards to possible complications.

Henry of course knew what she was thinking, he almost always did. "Babe, don't stress yourself out thinking of 'what ifs'. You need to relax and get enough sleep and focus on the fact that in a few weeks we're going to have a beautiful baby girl and we're not going to be able to relax again for at least ten years."

Elizabeth couldn't help it when she started laughing. "Ten? Stevie's twenty-one and I don't think I've relaxed about her once!"

"I was trying to be optimistic!"

The next three weeks seemed to fly by and the McCord's spent most of their time making sure they had everything they would need for their upcoming arrival. The kids, including Jason, were all being incredibly helpful and as Elizabeth felt even more run-down than normal during this time she couldn't have been more grateful for he family and their support.

Elizabeth even felt good about the way she was leaving work. They weren't dealing with any major crises currently and she just hoped it stayed that way for a little while.

But even though she was confident in her staff once she got within ten days of her due date Elizabeth started feeling anxious about everything. She was grateful she and her staff had a whole plan in place for the first couple weeks of her maternity leave. Only her inner circle at the State Department and Conrad and Russell knew her actual due date and she wanted to keep it that way. Her family deserved some adjustment time with the new baby before the media found out and started hounding them all. Even her deputy secretary had no idea when he would officially start covering her for her maternity leave. She felt a little bad keeping him out of the loop but it was going to be fine. Nadine and her staff could handle things for two to three weeks. She had faith in them. But she was still anxious.

She was sitting on the sofa in her office in somewhat of a daze when Nadine walked into the room. "Ma'am? Are you all right?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I just keep thinking about all the new crazy that's going to be added to my life next week and I keep thinking about how this poor kid isn't going to get to be a normal kid."

Nadine smiled. She wasn't usually the type of person to start a personal conversation but every once in a while she and Elizabeth had nice moments where they connected. "Crazy isn't necessarily bad, ma'am, and normal is overrated. She's going to be a lucky kid to grow up with you as her Mom."

Elizabeth felt tears at her eyes and she tried to blink them away. "Thank you, Nadine. That means a lot coming from you."

Nadine watched as her boss tried not to break down and knew she wasn't the one she needed right now.

Thirty minutes later Henry strode into Elizabeth's office to find his wife lying on her sofa.

She opened her eyes and relief washed over her as she took in the reassuring vision of her husband. "Hi baby, what are you doing here?"

Henry kneeled down next to her and kissed her forehead. "Nadine called me. She thought you might need me."

Elizabeth could have cried tears of joy. She did need Henry. Nadine was right.

Henry stroked his wife's hair gently. "What's going on, babe?"

"Everything in our already crazy lives is going to get even more insane. How the hell do we do this?" She started to panic and her breathing rapidly increased.

"Elizabeth, just breathe." Henry said calmly. One hand on her cheek as the other stroked her thigh gently.

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut and nodded her head and tried to let his words sink in. "Okay, I know you're right I just can't help myself."

Henry chuckled, "I know, babe. You're fine. Just breathe."

Elizabeth continued to take deep breaths and Henry was grateful he could feel her body relaxing. He moved the hand on her thigh to her belly and she smiled and put her hand over his and intertwined their fingers.

After a few minutes she opened her eyes again to see Henry smiling at her reassuringly.

"There she is." He said, his beautiful smile reaching the corners of his face.

Elizabeth laughed, "I don't know what happened. Everything just became so real. In just over a week our lives are never going to be the same."

Henry smiled, "No they're not going to be the same, but they're going to be better. We get a new little human to love for the rest of her life and then when we're old and decrepit guilt into taking care of us."

Elizabeth couldn't help her laughter, "Thanks a lot babe, that's a pleasant thought."

Henry leaned in to kiss her. "But it made you laugh."

She wrapped her hands around his head and tugged at his hair as she pulled him closer. They shared a deep kiss before Henry finally pulled back. They were at her office after all.

Elizabeth smiled up at him, "You did make me laugh. I love you, babe."

"I love you, too."

As Elizabeth went into her final week she had less anxiety and she was getting excited.

Sunday night she crawled into bed next to Henry and snuggled up against him. "I can't believe this is my last week. She is definitely getting ready. I finally feel like I can catch my breath and I've got more energy and I have to pee every even more often." Elizabeth said with a laugh.

"Maybe she will make it easy for you?"

Elizabeth threw her head back in an animated laugh. "Because when have any of our children ever made this easy? Thirty-five hours with Stevie, Alison was breech, then Jason ripping through all my muscles. McCord children are not easy. Is it bad that I almost want to have a C section because just in case she follows in Jason's footsteps learning how to use all those muscles again is just not something I'm up for at my age."

Henry smiled and ran a hand through his wife's hair in a soothing manner. "Whatever happens it's going to be fine. Dr. Bell is prepared for anything. She told you the minute something starts to feel even a little off she will do whatever is best for the baby. Don't stress yourself out about it. She's a great doctor and soon enough we're going to have a healthy baby girl."

Elizabeth smiled at her beautiful husband. His optimism had gotten her through so much and she knew it would get her through this too.

"I can't wait to meet her." Elizabeth said, snuggling into Henry's side.

Henry grinned, "Me too, babe. Me too."

"I hope she sticks to her due date though because I'm kind of attached to December 13th. Though I'm not opposed to a couple days early. God I hope she isn't late though. Part of that is because I'm so excited to meet her and part of that is because I honestly just can't be pregnant any longer."

Henry laughed, "I think that's okay, babe." He paused. "You're going to call me immediately if anything happens at work, right? I mean anything. The tiniest sign that you're going into labor, please call me."

"Of course I will. I swear I won't ignore anything."

By Friday afternoon, her last day of work and two days before her official due date, the lower back pain Elizabeth had been experiencing all week started to get worse. Around 3 o'clock it got sharper and Elizabeth knew within the day she was probably going to go into labor. This was how it always started. She knew her staff hadn't really expected her to be in today. She had figured this kid would come a little early so she was as surprised as anyone to walk in Friday morning feeling fine. She knew Blake had a poll going with the inner circle about when she would go into labor and she wondered who was winning as of right now. She called Blake into her office. "I need to you call my detail. I'm going home."

Blake's eyes lit up and she could practically see the anxiety wash over him. "Are you...should I call the hospital?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No Blake, I'm not in labor yet. I haven't had any contractions but I know this feeling. I just need to get home and be with Henry. Please be calm about this." She had lied about the contractions part but she didn't want Blake to freak out. She definitely just had one but she knew one was nothing at this point.

Blake just nodded his head and ran out of the room. Elizabeth laughed out loud. So much for being casual.

A minute later Nadine walked into the room. "Blake looks terrified. Are you all right?"

Elizabeth laughed, "Yeah, I've been through this three times. This is how it starts. Honestly I'm fine. I just want to get home."

Nadine smiled and Elizabeth appreciated how calm she was acting. "Can I get you anything or help you with anything?"

"No Nadine, thank you though. Actually scratch that can you please make sure Blake stays calm?"

Nadine laughed, "Of course, ma'am."

Nadine left Elizabeth's office and she picked up the phone to call Henry. He had been so sweet when she left for work this morning. He told her his whole schedule for the day. He was going to be out buying baby supplies in surplus over the morning and then he would be home. He made sure she knew he was only a phone call away if she needed absolutely anything. Sure enough he picked up before the phone rang once.

"Hey babe, how's your last day coming?"

"I'm actually on my way home."

"Your back is really starting to hurt?"

Elizabeth loved that Henry remembered exactly how this happened. "Yeah, my back really hurts. She's getting ready, Henry. I just started having small contractions."

"Okay baby, I'm going to get a bath ready for you. How close are you?"

"Five minutes or so."

"Okay, I'll see you soon. I love you so much, babe."

When Elizabeth arrived at the house Henry was right there to walk her inside. "Are the kids home yet?"

Henry shook his head, "No and I didn't think you'd want me to call them home. I think our best bet for relaxing you is to not have three excited kids freaking out."

"You read my mind, Dr. McCord."

Henry led her up the stairs to a warm bath he had drawn for her. "Still just small contractions? Any pattern?"

"Still small and no pattern. I think it's going to be a while."

"Just tell me if there's anything I can do babe. Want me to order that extra spicy Thai food you love?"

Elizabeth's eyes lit up. Henry hadn't let her have that throughout her whole pregnancy. "God yes! Please get it extra spicy. I think it drove Jason out of me."

Henry laughed, "Okay, do you want it now or later?"

"Later when the kids get home. Will they be home for dinner?"

"Yeah they should all be home for dinner. I'll order it and then text Stevie to pick it up on her way back and for now let's get you into your bath."

Elizabeth felt more relaxed the moment her body hit the water. The warmth alleviated some of her throbbing back pain and she felt better than she had all week.

Henry sat outside the tub and ran a hand over her belly. They talked about the kids and anything other than the fact that they were going to become parents for the fourth time sometime soon. They needed this moment of normalcy.

"Okay the bath is getting cold. Please help me out of here and then let's have sex before the kids get home."

Henry laughed, "Now there's an epic come-on line."

Elizabeth tried not to smile at him but couldn't help herself. "It worked to speed things up the last three times."

Henry nodded, still smiling at her, "You're right about that."

Sure enough, Elizabeth was right and when they were finished her contractions started coming faster. "You're magic, Dr. McCord."

Henry laughed and pulled his wife closer so he could kiss her forehead. "Only with you, babe. How about we walk around the house downstairs? Stevie is picking up Ali and the food and Jason should be home any minute."

Henry was right, the minute he and Elizabeth got downstairs Jason walked in the front door. He saw his father holding his mother's hand as they walked around the room and immediately got nervous that something was wrong. "Are you okay, Mom?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Hey baby, I'm just fine. I promise. I'm just in the early stages of labor."

Jason's eyes grew wide. "Shouldn't you be in the hospital?"

Elizabeth smiled at her sweet son. "No honey, it's too soon. We've got a ways to go. The doctor knows what's happening and she will be ready when we are."

Jason did not look convinced.

"Buddy, I promise you, this is all normal. We're walking around because movement could help speed everything up."

Just then they heard the girls bustle into the laundry room and Elizabeth and Henry headed into the kitchen with Jason following.

The girls set the takeout on the counter and Elizabeth felt her mouth start watering. She dove into the container that held her spicy noodles.

Jason kept looking at his mother with deep concern. "Are you sure that's the best thing to eat right now?"

Stevie looked over at her brother, "Jason, she's nine months pregnant. Leave her alone!"

Jason rolled his eyes, "She's not just nine months pregnant, she's currently in labor."

Stevie and Ali both froze and turned to look at their mother who was currently enjoying her food.

"It's fine, girls. It's just pre-labor. My contractions are still pretty far apart and they're not coming consistently. We've got a ways to go before we head to the hospital."

Ali turned to her Mom, "I hate to say I agree with Jason but should you be eating that?"

"It's just carbs. She ate spicy food with all of you and she was fine. Please don't stress out about this. Mom and I know what's going on."

None of the children looked convinced. They all had the same tense looks on their faces.

"Guys, I know this is weird but you have to trust that Mom knows what's going on. She needs to relax right now and it would help her a lot if you could all remain calm."

The kids all nodded. They were nervous but they really wanted to be there for their mother.

"Let's all go eat in the family room and put on a movie or something. How does that sound?"

"Mom, there is a human being coming out of your body, how the heck are you staying so calm!" Alison exclaimed. She looked like she was about to cry.

Henry walked over to her and wrapped his arms around his middle child. "She's more like preparing to come. Don't worry. Nothing major is going to happen before we get to the hospital. This is just how this works."

Ali still didn't look convinced but she nodded her head anyway.

The kids were on edge the whole night and they were all baffled when Elizabeth decided to go to bed like it was any other normal night. "You guys, I swear everything is fine. I need to get some sleep while I can because I'm probably not going to be able to for a while."

They got upstairs and into their bedroom and Elizabeth grimaced as a contraction hit her. "I am going to try to get some sleep, babe, but I think this is going to happen tonight."

Henry smiled, "I figured you were keeping quiet for the kids sake. I've already got your bag ready so we are ready whenever baby girl is ready."

Elizabeth made a phone call to Dr. Bell letting her know she thought they'd be in sometime tonight and Dr. Bell agreed if Elizabeth's contractions stayed above five minutes apart it was best for her to be home and attempt to relax. Henry gave her some tea and she felt relaxed and sleepy and she fell asleep curled up on her side as Henry gently rubbed her back. She didn't sleep well and within a few hours her contractions had woken her up and she was pacing around the room.

"How far apart are they?"

"Six minutes."

Elizabeth groaned, "Okay, okay let's call Dr. Bell and tell her to be ready for us. I know she said five but I'm getting really nervous that this kid is going to take her sweet time and I think I need to be as close to the drugs as possible so they can get them to me quickly."

Henry smiled and helped Elizabeth sit down on the bed. "I'm going to call the detail and tell them to be ready and then calmly inform the kids we're leaving."

Elizabeth nodded as she took in a deep breath.

Henry called her detail quickly and then headed up to Stevie's room. He shook her awake gently. "Hey sweetheart?"

Stevie looked out of it when she first opened her eyes but then shot up. "Is Mom okay? Are you going to the hospital?"

"Yes, Mom's fine but we need to head to the hospital now." Stevie made a move to get out of bed but Henry placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sweetheart, we need you guys to stay here for now."

Stevie wanted to protest but she knew her Dad was right. "Okay, but I'm not going to be able to sleep so I'm going downstairs."

"That's fine. Go give your mother a hug and a kiss before we leave and I'm going to tell Ali and Jason."

Ali had gotten upset when Henry told her they needed to stay home for now but she had thankfully calmed down and Jason seemed nervous but he just headed into his parents' bedroom to hug his mother.

The kids all took turns hugging their mother and then they all held onto her for a little while. "Dad and I promise to call you when it gets closer to the time. We don't want you guys waiting around all bored and anxious. It's better for you to stay here for now. We promise to keep you updated on everything."

The made their way to the hospital and Elizabeth clung to Henry's hand. A part of her couldn't believe this all was happening. The next time they were at their home it would be with a tiny new baby.

Their check in was as smooth as Dr. Bell assured them it would be. Elizabeth felt better knowing everything was so far going according to plan.

They got her all settled in and Dr. Bell examined her and reiterated what Elizabeth already had a feeling about. Things were progressing slowly and she was probably looking at a long night and day.

She tried walking around for a little while but her back was killing her and she had to sit down. Thank god for Henry who rubbed soothing circles on her back as she laid on her side in bed.

She already felt awful. She was sweaty and exhausted and she needed this kid to make a little progress soon.

"Baby girl can you please hurry it up at little bit?"

Henry smiled, "She doesn't want to leave. Can you blame her? It's warm and cozy in there."

Elizabeth managed a laugh, "Well her nursery is pretty cozy as well so maybe she can give that a chance. And your Daddy, baby girl, the quicker you get here the quicker he can snuggle you up and it'll be even better than this."

Henry leaned in to kiss his wife's temple. "I love you so much sweetheart and you're doing so well."

"I love you but I'm really angry with you right now that you got me into this position."

Henry laughed, "Me?"

Elizabeth scowled at him, "Yes _you_ with that irresistible face and your voice when it gets all low and sexy. I can negotiate ceasefires and weapons deals but I have zero self control when it comes to you."

Henry laughed, "I'm sorry babe."

"Four babies. We're about to have our fourth baby. Remember before we got married we decided on two?"

Henry smiled and rubbed her back soothingly. "Babe, I hate to tell you but you were the one who wanted to go for three."

She scowled at him, "I know that! But we never discussed four! Can you just let me have this, please?" She started to pout.

"Of course, babe. I am completely responsible for your current situation."

She knew he was teasing but it was nice to hear anyway. She sighed and smiled. "Thanks for giving me the five loves of my life, babe."

"Um, sweetheart, we only have four children."

Elizabeth turned to look him in the eye. Not sure if he was being serious or if he was screwing with her. His eyes had a devilish twinkle to them. She rolled her eyes, "You're number five you ass."

He leaned over to kiss her. "I love you, baby."

By the time morning came everything was still progressing at an extremely slow pace and Elizabeth was beyond miserable. Henry held a damp cloth to his wife's neck and he wished he could do more to help her.

"Babe, you're doing so great. I'm so proud of you."

Elizabeth groaned, "This girl is already stubborn just like her father."

Henry smiled. "I'm going to give you that one since I'm half responsible for this position you're currently in."

Elizabeth managed a smile as she adjusted herself into a more comfortable position on the bed. She took a deep breath as a contraction hit her.

Henry reached out and stroked his wife's hair back. The contraction was quick and that frustrated Elizabeth. "This baby is never coming, Henry. I feel like I'm going to be in labor for the rest of my life."

Henry sat down on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders and started stroking her arms. "Sweetheart, I know this is slow and I'm so sorry, you know if there was anything I could do to speed it up I would, but she's coming as fast as she can. Remember with Stevie? Everything was so slow like this and then all of a sudden she was here."

Elizabeth leaned her head back against Henry's arm and took a deep breath before she smiled up at him. "Henry, when this little girl gets here we are going to have a twenty-one year old, a sixteen year old, a thirteen year old and a newborn…are we insane?"

Henry laughed, "Maybe, but I think it's a little late for that considering baby girl is on her way. You know what is kind of crazy though is thinking about how Stevie's future kids and even Ali's will probably be closer in age to baby girl than they are."

Elizabeth groaned, "Oh my god Henry, I am in the process of pushing our daughter out of my body and I swear to god if you say another word about us becoming grandparents I am going to kill you and I really don't want to deprive our daughter of her amazing father."

Henry laughed again, "I'm so sorry, babe. We are nowhere close to that and I will not bring it up again."

Elizabeth sighed, "Thank you. I can't think about our babies having babies while I'm having a baby."

Several hours' later things were still moving slowly and Dr. Bell suggested they give Elizabeth some morphine so she could attempt to sleep since she had been up over twenty-four hours without almost any sleep.

Elizabeth wasn't keen on the idea. "How the hell am I supposed to sleep when I have a human being taking her sweet time exiting my body?"

It didn't help that Henry was constantly getting texts and calls from the kids and those were making Elizabeth even more anxious.

Henry eventually had to step out of the room to talk to Stevie. "Sweetheart, I appreciate how excited you all are but I promise I will let you know the minute anything big happens. You guys have to stop calling and texting. It is not helping your mother.

Stevie didn't like the sound of that. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, sweetheart. Believe me we've been through every scenario. Everything is going fine it's just slow. Now please can you guys try to focus on something else for a while? I need to get back to your Mom."

Stevie laughed, "Yeah, we're sorry. Tell Mom we love her."

Henry smiled, "Don't be sorry. I'm glad you guys are excited. I will tell Mom and I will let you know the minute anything happens. I love you, kiddo."

"Love you too, Dad."

Henry walked back into the room and told Elizabeth the kids were doing fine and they loved her. That at least made her smile.

Henry grabbed her balmy hand and squeezed as he told her the kids were doing fine and they loved her. He brushed her messy hair back with his free hand and kissed her forehead. "Have I mentioned you're glowing?" He knew that would make her laugh.

She couldn't help herself when she started laughing. "You are so cheesy and I love you. Also you need to make an appointment for a vasectomy because this cannot happen ever again. I am far too old to be doing this." She said with a groan as she felt a contraction coming on.

Henry laughed, "Babe, I don't think we have anything to worry about. Miracles like this don't just happen."

Elizabeth wanted to roll her eyes at his cheesiness but she knew he was right. This baby was their little miracle and as much as she ribbed him about everything she was very happy they were about to add to their family.

Elizabeth was incredibly grateful Dr. Bell had talked to her about the possibility of a c-section several months earlier. That way after her labor seemed to come to a screeching halt, they had a plan in action. Dr. Bell had been adamant that considering Elizabeth's age they needed to be prepared to do whatever it took to keep her and the baby in good health. Elizabeth had been fine with this plan. She wasn't particularly keen on a c-section but after Jason ripping through all her muscles she definitely wasn't going to argue with Dr. Bell's decision that a c-section would be best for mother and baby.

Henry held her hand and stroked her hair gently as Dr. Bell worked. She felt tired from the drugs and she only felt the odd pull and tug below her waist. The whole thing seemed to play out in slow motion. That is until Dr. Bell lifted their baby girl up so Elizabeth and Henry could get their first glimpse. "Madam Secretary, Dr. McCord, you have a beautiful baby girl."

Henry squeezed his wife's hand and tears of joy ran down his face. The pediatrician took the baby, clearing out her lungs quickly. Elizabeth squeezed Henry's hand tighter. They had warned them it might be a minute before the baby cried due to having to clear her little lungs. Elizabeth and Henry both exhaled deeply in relief, breaths they didn't even know they were holding inside, when they heard their little girl's first cry. Henry leaned down to kiss his wife tenderly, gently cupping her cheek and then pressed his forehead against hers. She ran her hand through his hair and they quickly realized they were both crying tears of joy. Henry leaned in to kiss her again, their lips meeting in a deep, meaningful kiss. Twenty-eight years and four children later and they still loved each other more each day.

Waiting for the doctor to clear their baby girl was the longest time in either of their lives. But she finally walked the tiny baby over to Henry and placed her in her father's arms.

Henry felt a surge of love for his new little girl as the doctor placed her safely in his arms and he wrapped his arms around her so she was safe and secure. She was tiny and pink and perfect and he was completely in love with her. He positioned himself as close to Elizabeth as possible and brought the tiny baby up next to her mother's face.

Elizabeth turned to look at her little girl. She looked so tiny in Henry's strong arms. She reached over carefully and ran her hand gently over her daughter's head and down her little arm. She touched her tiny, pink fingers and she couldn't stop smiling at her beautiful infant daughter. "Hi, baby girl. We're so happy you're here." She said, her voice shaky and tears once again threatening at her eyes.

She felt like her heart broke a little bit watching her new daughter cry in her father's arms. It was a strange feeling. After her parents died and she had been adamant she would never give another person the power to ruin her ever again. She had met Henry and broken that promise. Then with each of their children she had broken that promise again. She was staring at her newest child and her heart was breaking all over again because she now had a fifth human her whole world revolved around, a fifth human who had the power to ruin her.

Dr. Bell finished up and Elizabeth was anxious to get to recovery and finally get to hold her daughter. They got her situated and although she was exhausted she couldn't wait another minute to hold her tiny, pink, beautiful baby girl. Henry situated himself next to her and carefully handed her their tiny daughter.

She was sound asleep as Henry passed her to Elizabeth. She wiggled around a little bit and settled into her mother's arms.

Elizabeth felt tears forming at her eyes as she cradled her new baby girl in her arms and she could not stop smiling, "Henry, look what we made."

Henry was sitting next to her and had wrapped one arm around his wife's shoulders and the other hand around her middle to help her support their daughter. He couldn't stop smiling either, "She's perfect." He was completely awestruck by the tiny baby in his wife's arms.

Elizabeth ran her hand over the little girl's head through her wisps of blonde hair. The tiny baby batted her eyes open and looked up, taking in her parents with wide eyes.

Elizabeth felt tears threatening at her eyes once again as she watched her little girl take everything in. "Hi baby girl, I'm your Mommy."

The little girl reached up and Henry raised his hand over her and held her tiny hand in his. He knew her grabbing his fingers was only a reflex but it still made his heart skip a beat. "And I'm your Daddy, sweet girl."

They spent a little while just mesmerized by their new baby, taking everything in and memorizing these perfect moments. They finally decided it was time to get the kids. Henry had called them when Elizabeth went into surgery and they arrived soon after. They had waited long enough and they deserved to meet their new sister.

"I'll go get the kids. Hopefully they've decided on a name so we can stop calling her baby girl."

Elizabeth giggled, "I don't know, baby girl was kind of growing on me."

Henry laughed and kissed her temple, "I'm going to grab them. I'll be right back."

Henry quickly ran out of the room to the kids and Elizabeth turned back to the tiny human.

"Baby girl, your Daddy is the best man in the whole world and you are the luckiest little girl on earth to have him. And in a minute you're going to meet your siblings and they are the three best siblings a kid could ever ask for. You're going to love them so much and have the best time growing up with them."

The door opened again and Henry led the kids in the room. Stevie had a huge smile on her face, Alison looked like she was going to explode from excitement and Jason looked like he was trying to be cool about meeting his little sister but failing miserably.

"Hey baby girl, these are your siblings, Stevie, Ali, and Jason." Elizabeth said as they surrounded her, each trying to get a good look at their new little sister.

They all cooed over their new little sister for a minute. "She's so perfect!" Alison squealed.

Henry smiled and squeezed her shoulder, "Just like you Noodle, just like all of you."

"She is so tiny and precious!" Stevie gushed.

Henry grinned, "I hope you guys have decided on a name for this little one because Mom is a little exhausted and 'baby girl' is starting to sound like a good name to her."

The kids laughed and they exchanged glances with each other. "Jason, you want to tell them what we chose?" Stevie asked, looking over at her brother.

Jason nodded and reached over to sweetly caress his baby sister's head, "Hi Kate." He said softly.

Elizabeth grinned and looked down at the little girl, "Kate," she repeated, testing it out. She looked up at Henry, "I think it's perfect, don't you?"

Henry nodded, "Welcome to the world Katharine Charlotte McCord."

Elizabeth turned to her husband, "No, Katharine Elizabeth McCord."

Henry thought his ears were deceiving him. He had tried to float the idea to Elizabeth multiple times and she had shot him down each time and they had settled on Charlotte. "Babe…are you sure? I don't want you to hate it in a few days or hold it over my head in a few years?"

Elizabeth laughed, "I swear I won't. It's not an impulsive decision. I've been thinking about it for a while."

"You're positive? Because babe, I love Charlotte too."

She nodded, "I swear. Katharine Elizabeth should be her name."

"You know, really it's only right she's named after Mom since my middle name is after Grandma Adams and Ali is named after Grandma McCord." Stevie chimed in.

"Katharine Elizabeth," Henry repeated, looking down at his beautiful new daughter. "I think it's perfect. I'm glad you guys picked Katharine. She looks like a Kate, doesn't she?"

Elizabeth nodded, "She really does. I like Caroline a lot too but I was definitely leaning toward Kate so I'm glad that's what you picked. I would have hated to have to veto your choice."

All the kids laughed. "Well, looks like McCords think alike because our final vote was unanimous for Katharine." Stevie said.

"She really does look like a Kate. It suites her," Alison added and then paused, "Mom…can I hold her?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Of course you can, Noodle."

Henry grabbed Ali's arm gently and switched places with her, "How about you sit next to Mom and she'll pass Kate to you?"

Ali nodded and climbed up on the bed next to her mother.

Elizabeth couldn't really turn well because of her stitches but she managed to shift Kate over enough so Ali could carefully reach around and grab her. "Just make sure you support her head." Elizabeth gently reminded her middle daughter. Ali nodded as she cradled Kate in her arms, careful to support the little girl's head.

She beamed down at her baby sister, "Hi Kate, I'm your big sister Ali and I'm so happy you're here. We're going to have so much fun together and I'm always going to be here for you."

Kate took in Ali and smiled up at her.

Ali let out another coo, "She's smiling at me! Kate you're smiling!"

"Probably gas," Stevie jested, earning herself a glare from Ali and a laugh from her father.

"Unfortunately Stevie is probably right Al, she won't smile on her own for a few weeks, but that doesn't mean you don't get to be excited when she smiles at you even if it is gas."

Ali beamed at her Dad and looked down at Kate, "It's okay, Kate. I love you even if it was gas."

Elizabeth couldn't control the tears falling from her eyes; she was so touched by Ali's tender words and excitement. She wrapped her arm around her middle daughter and pulled her over so she could kiss her cheek. Ali cooed and fussed over Kate for a little while and Henry and Elizabeth felt their hearts expanding at the sight of Ali holding Kate.

Stevie was grinning at the interaction but she was getting impatient. "Okay, Jason and I want turns too!"

Ali pouted, "Okay."

Stevie turned to Jason, "Jase, you can hold her next."

Henry grinned over at Stevie; the amount she had grown up in the last few months was incredible. He was so proud of her.

Jason nodded, "Yeah, okay." He looked a little nervous but also excited.

"Okay, buddy how about you sit down over here and I'll bring Kate over?"

Jason nodded, still looking nervous as he made his way over to the chair next to his mother's bed.

Henry tenderly took Kate from Alison's arms, his face lit up when she looked up at him. "Okay Kate, time to hang out with your brother."

Elizabeth couldn't take her eyes off her husband, as he cradled their daughter in his arms and brought her to Jason, the happiness seemed to radiate off him. Kate looked even tinier in his strong arms. Elizabeth loved how the little girl immediately shut her eyes, a little smile of contentment illuminating her precious face. She had only been on this earth for a little while and she already knew nothing could harm her when she was in her Daddy's arms.

Henry leaned over and carefully placed Kate in Jason's arms. "Don't worry, buddy. You've got her. Support her head and you'll be fine." Jason nodded and looked down at Kate. Although he still looked nervous about holding her, a huge smile broke out on his face as she wiggled around making herself comfortable.

Jason laughed, "She's really cute."

Elizabeth felt her heart soar and she knew the tears were about to come again. Even though Jason had come around Elizabeth had still been a little nervous at how he would react when he actually met his little sister.

He held her for a little bit before offering her to Stevie, "You want a turn?" He asked his oldest sister.

Stevie's eyes lit up and she looked over at her Dad, sure he wanted to be the one to transfer Kate to her arms. "You've got her Stevie, just support her head." Stevie grinned with pride realizing her Dad completely trusted her with her baby sister.

Stevie walked over to Jason and carefully picked Kate up and she couldn't stop grinning as the little girl looked up at her, wide-eyed. "Hi Kate," Stevie gushed, her voice breaking with emotion, "I'm your big sister Stevie." She said as she carefully walked over to her mother's other side.

Kate studied Stevie for a minute and then shut her eyes and cozied herself up to her big sister. Stevie grinned, "I will always take care of you, kid. No matter where I might be I am always here for you."

Henry looked over at Elizabeth; she had silent tears running down her cheeks but she smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand. "Hey Stevie, Dad and I have something we need to ask you. Now, we don't want you to answer right away and just know we understand if you say no, this is a very big thing we're asking of you."

Stevie glanced at her mother, complete confusion evident on her face.

"Stevie, we aren't exactly young and on top of that we don't have the most stable of jobs. It's really important to us that if something ever happens to us that Kate grow up with someone who will take the absolute best care of her. We know you're only 21 and we initially didn't want to ask this of you, but the more we thought about it the more we decided even though you're young you would be the best person for this job. So we would be very honored if you would be Kate's godmother and her guardian if something ever happens to us? Again, don't answer right away, we know we're asking a lot so just think about it."

Stevie shook her head, "No, no I don't have to think about it. Of course I'll be her godmother!" Now tears were falling down her face.

"Are you sure, Stevie? We'd really prefer it if you took some time to process all this. I mean, of course we hope you'll never have to do this, but we want you to be sure of it just in case."

Stevie shook her head again, "No, I'm all in, if anything happens to you guys there's no way I'd let anything split us up no matter what. Team McCord. Always."

Elizabeth started to really cry at that point, "Thank you so much baby, you have no idea how much it means to your Dad and me."

"I would be honored to be your godmother, Miss Kate." Stevie said, talking sweetly to the baby who just continued to smile up at her.

"So when do you guys get to come home?" Ali asked from her perch on the bed, curled safely into her mother's side.

"Since your Mom and Kate are both doing well they said we could take her home in a day or so." Henry responded.

Elizabeth sighed, "Thank god, I'm already sick of hospital food."

They all talked for a little longer about Kate and Elizabeth and Henry shared stories about bringing each child home from the hospital.

"Okay, Stevie, I need a turn." Henry said, walking over to Stevie so he could hold his youngest daughter again. Stevie pouted and reluctantly handed over her little sister.

"Hi Kate. You recognize Daddy yet?" He said, grinning down at his unbelievably perfect daughter.

Kate smiled and made a little noise that sounded like a sigh of contentment before settling into her father's warm embrace.

Elizabeth smiled at her beautiful husband. He couldn't take his eyes off Kate and it melted her heart. "Of course she knows her Daddy."

Henry just kept grinning down at their new baby girl. He still couldn't believe here they were again after all this time.

After a little bit the nurse came into the room and announced Elizabeth needed to attempt to feed Kate. The children filed out of the room, they needed to eat as well, and Henry stayed with Elizabeth and Kate. Elizabeth quickly explained to the nurse she had never had the best luck with breastfeeding and the nurse was kind and understanding. Kate apparently didn't get that memo because she took to it with ease.

"Baby girl you're only a couple hours old and you're already proving your Mommy wrong, that must be a record."

When she was finished Henry went to get the kids. They all came back to the room and the family interacted for a while until Kate started to cry. She was probably tired. The kids promised they would be quiet but Henry knew they needed their rest too, promising them they could come around before school the next morning but that just started another argument. None of them wanted to go to school but Henry reminded them they had to run business as usual until they were ready to send out a press release about Kate's birth. The kids grumbled but agreed it was for the best and headed home.

Kate fell asleep in Elizabeth's arms and Henry could tell Elizabeth was fighting sleep herself. He picked Kate up, rocked her for a little while himself and then put her in the bassinet, making sure it was as close to Elizabeth's bed that it could possibly be. He then took off his sweater and rolled it up and put it on the back of his chair.

"Baby, you can go home. I want you to get a good nights rest."

Henry shook his head, "Are you insane? I'm not leaving you."

Elizabeth sighed, she was too tired to argue and she hadn't actually expected him to leave. "Well then get in bed with me, please?"

Henry sighed, "Babe, I don't want to hurt you."

Elizabeth pouted, "You won't, my stitches will be fine. Please Henry, I just need you to hold me."

That was his undoing, it wasn't fair really because he didn't stand a chance once she said that.

"Okay, scoot over."

Elizabeth grinned; she loved it when she won.

Henry climbed into the narrow bed and Elizabeth snuggled close to him. "You did good, baby. I'm so proud of you." He whispered against her head.

Elizabeth smiled and relaxed her back against his strong chest, " _We_ did good."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I really really really appreciate with all my heart you taking the time to read this story! It means the world to me when you leave me some love!

P.S. The next chapter of Something Blooming will be up this week. I promise I've not forgotten it I just got stuck and I've been busy. Thanks for being patient with me!


	12. Chapter 12

They were up off and on throughout the night to feed and soothe Kate when she woke but she surprised both Elizabeth and Henry with how easily she fell back to sleep each time.

The nurse came in the morning to take her for a quick test and Henry went along with her, unable to leave his daughter alone for even a short amount of time. Elizabeth was glad Henry went with Kate. She knew the nurses were skilled but she felt better knowing Kate had her Daddy to keep a watchful eye on her.

She had planned on making good use of the alone time with a quick power nap but shortly after Henry and Kate left, the kids arrived at the hospital.

Elizabeth saw Stevie first and her eyes lit up, "Oh my babies are back!" She said, holding out her arm to reach for her children. Her body was weary but she felt energized by the sight of her three older children.

All three kids burst into the room and hugged their mother.

"Kate is getting her last tests done she will be back soon. Dad is with her." Elizabeth said, knowing they would start grilling her about Kate's whereabouts in a second.

Ali pouted and didn't waste a minute before she crawled up onto the bed and snuggled against her mother, "Ten minutes sounds like a lifetime. I missed her so much last night I could barely sleep."

"Do we get to take her home today?" Jason asked.

Elizabeth wrapped an arm around Ali and cuddled her close and kissed the top of her head. "The nurse will let us know if that's a possibility when she comes back with her and then they have to OK me as well."

"Do you want me to grab you and Dad some coffee?" Stevie asked.

"That would be great sweetheart, decaf still. You can get your Dad some with caffiene. He deserves it." Elizabeth said, even though hers would have no caffeine Elizabeth found herself looking forward to tasting the hot liquid.

Stevie laughed and left the room to grab the drinks.

A couple minutes later Henry and the nurse walked back into the room with Kate and informed Elizabeth her doctor would be in to check on her and let her know if she and Kate could both go home today.

Kate was wide eyed as Alison and Jason cooed over her but she soon fell asleep against her mother's cozy chest.

Stevie popped her head in a minute later, a giddy expression on her face, "Guess who I found?!" She exclaimed before opening the door to a very awkward looking Blake.

Elizabeth grinned, "Blake! Come in, come in!"

Stevie ushered him into the room. He had a bouquet of flowers and a handful of balloons and she grabbed those out of his hands and put them down. Blake just stood there like he didn't know how to act.

"Aww, from the office?"

He nodded, "Yes, they all send their best. Only Matt, Daisy, Nadine, Jay and I know so far. Daisy wanted me to tell you she's keeping a lid on everything for as long as she can and she'll let you know when that changes."

Elizabeth smiled, "I appreciate that. Come here, I want you to meet her!" She said, waving Blake over.

Blake stood timidly at her side and peeked over at the tiny human in his boss' arms. He couldn't help but smile, "She's perfect, ma'am. Congratulations." He said, his sincerity evident in his voice.

Elizabeth beamed at his words, "Her name is Katharine Elizabeth McCord. We're calling her Kate." She was happy Blake had been the one to come. As much as she had grown to like her staff, Blake was the only one who felt like family.

Blake just smiled down at the wide-eyed little girl. "You want to hold her?" Elizabeth asked.

He suddenly got nervous again.

"I, um..." He started stuttering.

Elizabeth laughed, "You don't have to hold her, I'm not going to be offended. I know these things make you nervous."

Blake let out a genuine smile and sighed in relief, "Once she's a little older and I'm not terrified of injuring her?"

Elizabeth laughed, "Deal."

Blake smiled again, looking at Kate, "She really is beautiful ma'am. Congratulations, to all of you. I should get going though."

"Thanks for stopping by, Blake. It means a lot."

He smiled as he was exiting the room, "Anytime, ma'am."

The kids all had to go to school and of course they all whined about it as Henry ushered them out of the room. Elizabeth felt bad for making them go but it was better for all of them this way. They needed to proceed as normal for now so they could get used to having a baby in the house without the intrusion of the press.

Henry walked back into the room and motioned at his coffee. "I think Stevie got me regular coffee, did she do that on purpose?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, I told her you deserved it."

Henry tried not to smile, "Babe, that's not fair when you still have to drink decaf. You know the deal, if you can't have it, I can't have it."

Elizabeth nodded, "I know and you're sweet but it's fine. You were up with her last night more than I was, you need it. Just kiss me so I can get a little hit, please?"

Henry laughed and leaned in to kiss her but pulled back too soon for her liking.

"Oh come on, at least give me a little tongue."

Henry just laughed and went back in for another kiss, this time giving her what she wanted.

She grinned when he pulled back. "There's the stuff. Sweet caffiene, how I've missed you."

Henry shook his head and tried not to laugh, "I feel very used."

She shrugged, indifferent to his teasing and he just laughed harder. He then sat down on the bed next to her and put an arm around her shoulders and one around Kate.

"It was nice of Blake to stop by."

Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, I'm really glad he did. I thought we could invite the others over soon to meet her? They've all been so helpful in keeping this under the radar and I'd like it if they all got to meet her."

Henry smiled, "Absolutely babe. Hopefully we get to take her home soon. It would be nice to get her settled in at home without the fanfare from the kids. I appreciate their enthusiasm but I think it will just be easier for everyone if you and I can get her settled first."

Elizabeth nodded and looked down at Kate. "You hear that, baby girl? We're going to take you to your house. That's where you get to grow up."

Henry smiled, "Not too fast though."

"Right, just stay little for as long as you can."

It was then that Dr. Bell came to check on them. She smiled at her patients. "How's everyone doing?"

Elizabeth beamed at her, "Perfect. I um, I don't think we had the chance to thank you for acting so quickly and calmly about switching to the c-section when everything halted. We've been so stressed out through this whole pregnancy and knowing and trusting you to do what what best was a huge burden off us and we're so grateful."

"I'm glad, that means I'm doing my job."

"But it was more than that, I've had four pregnancies now and I have no complaints about my previous OBGYN's but you have been the most helpful and the most reassuring about everything."

"I appreciate that ma'am," she paused as Elizabeth glared at her and she smiled, "Elizabeth."

"Can I take a peak at Kate?"

Henry got up off the bed and Dr. Bell walked around to get Kate and put her in the bassinet to check her. "Now I know 6.4 pounds seems a little on the light side but I assure you she is well within the norm and it's nothing to worry about."

Elizabeth laughed and squeeezed Henry's hand, "Wow you know me well." She said with a laugh.

She checked Kate and when she finished up she gave her to her father so she could check Elizabeth. "I would normally like to keep you an extra day because of your c-section but you're healing well and I understand the unusual predicament you're in and why you'd want to get home. I feel confident discharging you, but Henry I'd like you to keep me updated for the next few days as to how she's healing, I'll have a nurse come in and walk you through everything."

Henry nodded, "Yes, I'm more than happy to do that."

"Well, I could do that." Elizabeth said, slightly annoyed.

Henry shot her serious side eye, "No you wouldn't and we all know it. You rarely complain. You can't even admit when you have a cold. Your voice says fine and your face says something else. I'm the decoder." He teased.

Elizabeth hated that he was right, she wasn't really a complainer and sometimes it was to her own detriment. She didn't know what to do so she just stuck her tongue out at him, making him and Dr. Bell bust up in laughter.

They got to leave a couple hours later and Elizabeth was a little stressed about leaving but mostly just relieved to be going home.

She felt weak when she tried to stand up and help Henry gather her things but it wasn't the same type of pain she had felt the first three times. She ached along her back and middle and her legs were tired but it was a more bearable pain then the first three times.

Henry kept his watchful eye on her, paying close attention so he didn't miss anything she would give away on her face. "You okay?" He asked, holding her shoulder gently.

She took a breath and nodded. "Yeah, actually I don't feel too bad."

He studied her face, she didn't seem like she was sugar coating, but he wasn't going to let go of her anyway. "How about we just walk you over to the chair and then we can get Kate in her car seat?"

She nodded and grabbed onto Henry's hand.

She took a couple steps and although her middle and back definitely hurt she didn't find the act of walking to be nearly as painful as it had been after her natural births.

She sat down in her chair and Henry went to grab Kate from the bassinet and put her in the car seat. She was all bundled up and she settled into it without a peep. "What if she's just tricking us by being so calm and agreeable and then when we get home she's going to be a screaming, crying little terror?" She said, only half joking.

Henry looked down at Kate, "No! Tell Mommy she's wrong and you're just a sweet little girl who is going to stay nice and easy for her parents?"

Elizabeth chuckled, "Wishful thinking, Dr. McCord."

Elizabeth's agents had reluctantly agreed, and only after being ordered by Dalton, to let only one car pick up the McCords at the hospital's back exit as to not draw too much attention to themselves. Two other vehicles would then join them when they got out of the parking area but any signs that the SUV's were diplomatic would be removed to make things easier for the McCords.

They got Elizabeth and Kate in the car without a hitch and made it home, it being Henry's idea to have the agents pull the SUV into the garage.

Henry carried Kate inside and Frank helped Elizabeth into the house. Henry set the carrier down on the island and took Elizabeth from Frank. She wrapped her arm around his waist and just stared at their new daughter, cozy in her carrier and unaware she was finally home. "Welcome home, baby girl." Elizabeth said, suddenly finding herself getting all emotional about taking their last baby home.

Henry pulled her closer to him and kissed her temple. "How about we go into the family room and we all try to take a little nap?"

Elizabeth nodded and wiped away a rogue tear from her eye. "Let's get you settled first and then I'll grab the little one."

"I can make it Henry, grab her first and get her settled and I'll be over."

Henry shot her a skeptical look.

She rolled her eyes, "I can walk, I'm just a little unsteady. I'll hold onto the counters but I'd like to try to find my balance myself. And you'll be ten feet away from me max, it will be fine."

Henry nodded, he knew she would just start to get frustrated if he babied her. "Okay."

He grabbed Kate in her carrier and slowly walked to the living room, watching Elizabeth as he went. She did look okay, she was just a little shaky but that was to be expected.

She made it to the couch and was grateful to sink down into the soft cushions and she smiled as she watche Henry transfer Kate from her carrier to the infant seat thing they had set up in the living room. She was very grateful Henry had been so adamant about getting all of Kate's things set up long before she arrived, it made is easier to adjust to all the new things now taking up space. He made sure Kate was secure and set the seat down right next to Elizabeth so she was as close as possible to the baby and then he sat down next to her so Elizabeth could cozy up to him. "You think she'll let us sleep for a little while?"

"Hopefully until the kids get home." Elizabeth said, letting out a huge yawn as she rested her head on Henry's chest. "God she's beautiful."

"You did so good, babe. I'm so proud of you and I'm so in awe of you."

Elizabeth was quiet and he looked down to see she was already fast asleep on his chest. He chuckled to himself, "Like mother, like daughter."

About an hour later Henry woke up to Ali and Stevie arguing over something as they came into the kitchen.

It woke Elizabeth up too and she moved so he could jump off the couch and quiet their two oldest children.

"Hey hey hey, volume, WAY lower." He whispered sternly.

Ali covered her mouth in horror and Stevie pursed her lips, looking guilty. Jason was behind them, watching in amusement as they fought. He was also carrying a bag of takeout.

"The new normal is whenever you enter the house always assume the baby is sleeping until you've confirmed otherwise." Henry said, his voice quiet but there was no mistaking his complete seriousness.

Both kids nodded, shockingly there was no protesting from either of them.

"Where are Mom and Kate?" Ali asked, keeping her voice low like she was told.

"Living room."

With that Ali shoved Stevie out of the way and ran toward the living room. "Hey!" Stevie hissed, in a low whisper.

"Um, I'm gonna get the food ready." Jason said.

"Thanks buddy," Henry said before following his daughters. They got to the living room and were swatting at each other like children.

Elizabeth looked at her husband, eyes wide, "I was unaware that when we had the baby our teenage and adult children would revert to toddlers."

"I should get to hold her first." Ali demanded.

Stevie rolled her eyes, "No, you had her for way longer yesterday. I get to hold her first."

"But you held her last so it's my turn."

"Well, I'm her godmother." Stevie countered.

Ali's eyes were about to bug out of her head. "That's not even fair and you know it. You don't get dibs all the time just because of that." She whipped her head around to look at Elizabeth, "Mom?"

Elizabeth sighed, "Stevie, Ali is right, you don't get to use that to win arguments. Just flip a coin or something but stop arguing about it."

"Sorry, Mom." Both girls said, clearly feeling guilty about causing their mother undue stress over something so silly.

"It's fine, Al. You can hold her first."

Ali smiled, "Thanks, Stevie."

She sat down next to her mother and Elizabeth instructed her how to properly take the baby out of her seat.

Kate woke up when Ali picked her up and she started to cry a little bit. That visibly upset Ali.

"Oh no, I made her cry, oh I'm so sorry Kate."

Elizabeth tried not to laugh at her middle daughter, "Ali, she's a baby, she's going to cry. You woke her up, just give her a minute." She squeezed Ali's shoulders and kissed her cheek. It was a little funny but it was mostly just cute how much Ali cared.

Stevie, Jason and Henry got the food ready and brought it out. Elizabeth ate and then fed Kate and afterward the whole family just enjoyed their time together, passing around the baby was clearly going to become an art form in their house.

Later Elizabeth decided she really needed a shower. Henry was going to stay with Kate and have Stevie help her mother but the kids insisted they could take care of their little sister for a little while so Henry could help out Elizabeth since she was still a little shaky on her feet.

"Dad, there's three of us and one of her and Ali and I both used to babysit, I think we can handle her for a little while."

"Of course you can, we trust you guys." Elizabeth said, tugging on Henry's hand. She knew for him it wasn't about not trusting the kids it was simply about leaving their new daughter even if it was only for thirty minutes or so.

Henry nodded, "Of course we trust you, just come get us if you need anything."

Henry helped his wife up the stairs and gently helped her take off her clothing. She felt a lot more steady on her feet after napping and a full dinner. Henry checked the bandage on her stomach and frowned when she tried to cover up her body with her arms.

"Babe, what are you doing?"

She shrugged and blushed a little bit, "I just had a baby, Henry. Everything feels…out of place. Although I've gotta say I'll take stiches in my stomach over ones in my crotch any day."

Henry burst out laughing and he had to take a minute to calm down. He stood up to look her in the eye and cupped her cheek tenderly, "Babe, you are insane, you look absolutely beautiful. Nothing is 'out of place'."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "You're just saying that because you see me like this and your testosterone triggers you to think I'm beautiful because you did this to me."

Henry laughed again, "Okay, first of all I always think you're beautiful and second of all, excuse me but I'm pretty sure it takes two people to make a baby."

Elizabeth grinned and leaned in to kiss him, "I think you deserve most of the blame because you're so attractive. I can never resist you."

Henry smiled, "Well, I feel the same way about you. Now let's get into the shower. I'll wash your hair for you."

When they were finished they got ready for bed and Henry helped Elizabeth back down the stairs so they could say goodnight to the kids and get Kate.

Stevie and Ali were sitting on the sofa next to each other and Ali had Kate cradled against her. Jason was sitting on the floor next to them and they were all talking and laughing.

Henry bent down to scoop Kate out of Ali's arms. "Thanks guys for taking care of her. Baby girl needs to eat and then go to bed."

Ali pouted and stood up, "Okay, goodnight Kate. I love you."

Stevie and Jason followed suit and then Henry and Elizabeth walked up the stairs to their bedroom. Elizabeth got situated on their bed and Henry handed her Kate. The baby latched on quickly and Henry sat down next to his wife and child. He just watched Kate have her meal and when she was finished he took over burping her.

She was so little and perfect and the way she curled into his chest made him feel like his heart was about to burst.

Elizabeth loved watching her husband interact with their baby daughter. He had always been good with kids, she called him the baby whisperer and clearly he hadn't lost his touch.

He sat back on the bed with Kate on his chest and laid back. Elizabeth snuggled in close to Henry so she could stroke Kate's back as she fell asleep.

"It's nice to see the kids so invested. I was worried for a little while. Especially about Jason."

Henry smiled, "I knew he would come around, though I admit it was a little down to the wire."

"I'm glad we let them choose her name and I'm really glad they picked Kate. It will be cute to tell her that story when she's a little older."

Henry squeezed her shoulders, "Do you remember when Ali was born you told me no more kids?"

Elizabeth chuckled, "Yeah and I was dead serious about that until she turned two and I realized I was actually going to miss doing all that baby stuff."

"You ready to do it all again?" He asked, his voice quiet as he ran his hand along her arm.

"Of course, I've got you."

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Yes you do, always."

Early the next morning Henry was up with Kate as the sun was coming up. He had changed her diaper and changed her into the cutest little onesie with moose heads on her little feet. She was awake but she was quiet, just looking around wide-eyed taking in her surroundings so Henry decided to bring her back into the bedroom and settled them on the window seat. Henry knew Elizabeth needed her sleep so while Kate remained content with just her Daddy, he was happy to just enjoy his time with his little girl. He sat there with Kate curled up content as could be resting on her baby pillow he had situated on his legs. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He was head over heels in love. He was amazed at how much love Kate made him feel. He had felt the same with all their children but in the thirteen years since Jason had been born he had forgotten how strong the feeling would be. He had forgotten about this surge of love he had felt with each new baby. He had forgotten how incredible the feeling was, the sudden onset of love brought on by such a tiny little human was incredible. She was already an observant one, her big blue eyes seemed to be memorizing Henry as she stared up at him and gripped his finger in her tiny hand.

The love Henry felt for Kate wasn't any stronger than his love for his other children, but it was different. Different because when Jason was born he hadn't really registered it would be the last time he would do all that baby stuff until Jason was about three. Then for the ten years between that moment and the moment he and Elizabeth found out she was pregnant with Kate, he had been sure he would never do this again. But now he was doing it again. Now he was 51 years old with a three-day-old baby he would move heaven and earth for. While he had those same feelings with all his children, this time around he knew for sure would be his last and that meant he was going to savor every single moment.

Kate released his finger and her face scrunched up as if she was going to cry. Henry immediately scooped her up off his legs and into his arms so that he was holding her close to his chest. The tiny little girl almost immediately calmed down as she made herself cozy against her Daddy.

Henry smiled, "That's it baby girl, Daddy will always take care of you."

They had all referred to Kate as 'baby girl' for so long he was fairly certain the nickname would stick with her for her whole life.

After a little while, Elizabeth started to stir and she reached out for Henry, disappointed he wasn't next to her, "Henry?" She called out groggily.

"Right here, babe." He called back, softly so as not to alarm Kate.

Elizabeth turned around and a huge grin erupted on her face when she saw her husband tenderly holding their daughter on the window seat. She felt a surge of love go through her heart for both her husband and their new daughter.

Henry got up slowly and walked over to his side of the bed.

When Elizabeth sat up she winced a little bit, forgetting about the stitches in her stomach, but luckily it only hurt for a moment and she realized even though it had hurt briefly, all in all she felt much better than she had even a few hours ago the last time Kate had woken up.

Henry sat down next to her, Kate curled up in his strong arms. The little girl looked so content in Henry's arms. Elizabeth smiled, she knew the feeling well. She rested her head on her husband's strong shoulder and ran her hand through the wispy blonde hair on her sleeping daughter's head.

Henry turned to his wife and kissed her forehead, "I think she's going to look just like you."

Elizabeth smiled, "I don't know about that, I think she's got your eyes."

Kate's eyes suddenly flew open at the sound of her mother's voice. Elizabeth smiled, "Hi baby girl." And with that Kate started wiggling in her father's arms.

Henry laughed, "Someone is happy this morning." He carefully shifted the little girl over to her mother's arms and got up to grab Kate's pillow so Elizabeth didn't have to strain her stitches holding the baby.

He got his girls situated and went to his side of the bed and climbed back under the covers.

He and Elizabeth fawned over Kate for a bit until the little girl got fussy indicating she was hungry.

They fed and burped her and after they had settled back into bed they heard a soft knock at the door.

Elizabeth looked at the clock, it was 6:30 so the kids were probably starting to get ready for school, apart from Stevie who was finishing up her finals this week and didn't have one today.

"Come in," Henry called out.

Ali poked her head into the room and Henry waved her inside.

Ali's eyes lit up when she saw her Mom and sister on the bed and she bounded over to them. Henry scooted over to the edge of the bed so Ali could jump in between them and cozy up to Elizabeth.

"Morning Kate." Ali cooed to the little girl, making Henry and Elizabeth both smile. Ali fussed over Kate for a little while until Henry realized she should probably be getting ready for school.

"Al, I hate to put a damper on things but shouldn't you be getting ready for school?"

Ali groaned and buried her head in her mother's shoulder, "Do I really have to go?"

Henry laughed, "Yes, this is your last week of school before finals. You need to go."

"But yesterday was awful. I missed Kate so much and all I wanted to do was talk about her and show everyone pictures but I couldn't because you haven't issued a press release yet." Ali whined.

Elizabeth pursed her lips, she wanted to tell Ali she could skip school but she knew it wasn't an option, Ali had finals coming up and she shouldn't miss any of the prep going on this week. She was already distracted enough by her new sister.

Thank god Henry responded before Elizabeth could. "Noodle, you have to go to school. You have finals and you need to be prepared."

Ali pouted, "Going all day not being able to see or even talk about Kate is torture."

"I'm sorry you can't talk about her, Noodle. But we really want to keep this quiet until after the New Year. We just need some time to adjust without any media attention."

Ali sighed, she understood her parents' reasoning but that didn't make it any less difficult to abide by. "Okay, bye Kate. I'm going to come home right after school to see you so plan your napping accordingly." She leaned down to kiss her little sister's head and Henry and Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at Ali's sweet statement.

When Ali left Jason came into the room, he was already dressed for school, and he said hi to Kate. He was still attempting to act cool around her but Henry and Elizabeth could tell he already adored his baby sister no matter how cool he tried to play.

After Jason and Ali left for school Elizabeth realized Kate needed to be changed. Henry didn't even hesitate before scooping Kate into his arms and insisting he be the one to change her so Elizabeth could continue to rest in bed. When he walked out of the bedroom to cross the hall into Kate's nursery he saw Stevie coming down the stairs at the other end of the hallway. "Good morning, sweetheart." He said to his eldest daughter, who looked a little groggy still.

Stevie smiled and yawned in response, making Henry laugh as he waited for her. "Up late?"

"Yeah, I had to catch up on some studying." She responded before being completely distracted by Kate. "Hi baby girl!" She got up close and kissed her little sister on the head before noticing the smell. Stevie laughed, "Ooh someone's stinky!" She said, tickling Kate's chest and eliciting a little gurgle from her.

"Yes, we definitely need a new diaper."

He walked into the nursery and Stevie followed.

Henry got Kate situated on the table and took off her onesie while Stevie grabbed a new diaper and an adorable new onesie with penguins on it. Henry held his hand out for the diaper but Stevie didn't hand it over. "Um...can I do it?"

Henry raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You _want_ to change her diaper?"

Stevie shrugged, "Well...want isn't exactly the word I would use but I think I should know how."

Henry smiled, "You were a babysitter, you know how. Don't worry about it. Save your diaper duty for when your Mom and I need a night out."

Stevie laughed, "I know how, but it's been quite a while plus I've never changed a diaper on a baby this little and I just want to make sure I'm doing it right."

Henry smiled, "All right then, you're up." He said, motioning for Stevie to stand next to him.

"Okay, she's too little to roll for now but you still can't take your eyes off her. And make sure you don't put anything small down next to her because again, even though she's little she will somehow get it in her mouth. I learned that the hard way with you."

Stevie laughed and Henry kept going.

"Once she does learn to roll you need to be extra careful with her because even though she's more durable than she looks, falling off this thing would be bad."

"I could have figured that one out, Dad."

Henry laughed, "I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry." He grabbed for the baby powder and held it up, "Okay, this is the most important thing. Another part of this your Mom and I learned the hard way with you."

Stevie laughed again, "Glad I could be your test case."

Henry wrapped an arm around his oldest, "Me too, kid." He finished explaining to her and she looked a little less anxious.

When he was done Stevie nodded her understanding, mentally filing away everything her Dad had told her.

Henry continued, "Okay, I know she's tiny and obviously you need to be careful with her, but she's more durable than she looks. She's got a onesie on now so you won't have to slide anything over her head but just so you know most babies will fuss if you're putting something over their heads and trust me, doing it the first few times and having to look at that scrunched up face will break your heart a little bit, but she just has to get used to it. It won't hurt her, it's just something new she isn't used to so she'll probably fuss."

Stevie smiled, "Did I fuss over that when I was a baby?"

Henry laughed and wrapped an arm around his eldest, "You wailed the first few times and your Mom and I used to freak out and cry along with you. Full disclosure we may have gotten the first one sort of stuck on your face so that probably didn't help."

Stevie laughed, "Oh my god."

"But you got used to it and so will Kate." He then stepped aside so Stevie could start.

She did a near perfect job getting Kate out of her onesie and diaper and cleaning her up. She needed reassurance from her father that she wasn't putting Kate's diaper on too tight and after that she got the little girl into her new onesie, with only minor hitches getting Kate's wiggling arms gently into the onesie. Stevie finished and looked thoroughly pleased with herself. She picked Kate up and cuddled her close, the little girl was so content to be held and loved by her big sister.

Henry loved watching his oldest and youngest interact; it warmed his heart to watch his girls bond.

"Okay, let's bring Miss Kate back to Mom before she hunts us down."

Stevie laughed, "We can't mess with Mama Bear and her littlest cub now can we?" She joked to Kate as they walked back into Henry and Elizabeth's bedroom.

Elizabeth was not in bed where Henry had left her but she walked out of the bathroom a second after Henry and Stevie walked in the door.

Henry frowned as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist, "Babe, if you needed something you should have called for me." He was a little nervous his wife was going to over exert herself. He did know her well.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "I just went to the bathroom. I'm fine, Henry." She leaned in to kiss him lightly on the lips to reassure him.

"Morning Mom, how are you?" Stevie asked.

Elizabeth pulled away from Henry and smiled at the sight of her eldest child holding her youngest, "Hey sweetie. I'm good. How late were you up?" She asked, noticing the bags under her daughter's eyes.

Stevie shrugged, "Only until about 1. I got enough sleep I think my brain is just exhausted from attempting to cram so much information into it."

Elizabeth smiled, "Well you should take a break today. You'll do worse if you wear yourself out."

Stevie nodded, "Yeah, I'm going in for one study session this afternoon but I was just going to hang out with you guys all morning if that's cool?"

"Of course, sweetie. Let's all go downstairs. I'm hungry. Now hand over your sister."

Stevie laughed and moved to hand Kate over to their mother but Henry stopped her. "Nope, Mom doesn't get her until we're down the stairs."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Henry, she's six and a half pounds, I think I'll be fine."

Henry shook his head, "No, get down the stairs and then you can have her. Give yourself a week or two to heal because if you don't you're going to feel worse before you feel better."

Elizabeth pouted, she knew Henry was right but she didn't have to like it.

The four of them made their way downstairs and after getting Elizabeth and Kate situated on the sofa, Henry decided he was going to make pancakes. Stevie offered to help but he insisted she stay with her mom and sister.

When the food was ready he brought it over to the family room and set it up on the coffee table.

Kate was sleeping soundly on Elizabeth's chest and she hated to move Kate but she was starving. Henry scooped up the baby, expertly transferring her to his own chest and lying back on his chair so she didn't even flinch. Elizabeth just smiled as she ate her pancakes; her husband was without a doubt, the baby whisperer.

Stevie snapped several pictures of her father and baby sister. The good thing about cell phones was almost every second of Kate's life was documented on her five family members cellphones, but that was also a downside. Elizabeth and Henry had warned the children to password protect their phones and not to lose them. She would never tell them to stop taking pictures, but she also wanted to make sure their private family photos would never be splashed all over the internet.

Later that afternoon Stevie had gone to school and Henry and Elizabeth decided to call up their relatives and inform them they had a new family member. Henry was a little nervous about telling his family but he figured they deserved to know especially considering the way they had all found out about Elizabeth's pregnancy.

"Babe, I just have to ask you one thing before we start making calls."

Elizabeth had Kate cradled in her arms as she sat on the sofa in the family room. She shot Henry a confused look.

"Katharine Elizabeth," he said, "Are you positive? This is your last chance to veto it. We can still change it back to Charlotte at this point?"

Elizabeth smiled at her husband, "No, Katharine Elizabeth is her name. I love it. I promise. I'll never give you crap about it. I swear."

Henry smiled down at her and their sweet little girl. Katharine Elizabeth. He loved her name so much but he needed to be positive Elizabeth loved it just as much and wasn't doing it just for him. "Can I ask what changed your mind?"

She smiled, "I know I was really opposed to it but the last time you floated the idea to me, after I shot you down rather meanly, I kept thinking about what you said, about how naming her after me wasn't some weird display of power like I'd claimed or something that should have been done with our first child. I thought about how much I love that Stevie and Ali's names come from our mothers and I know they both love that and I realized we did that out of love for our mothers, out of wanting to spread that love to our girls and I realized I wanted Kate to be able to feel that love too. Someday when she's older I'm gonna tell her that her Daddy picked her middle name because he loves me so much and he just wanted to share that love with her."

Henry couldn't stop smiling and he sat down on the sofa next to his wife and their baby. He leaned in to kiss her softly and he whispered against her lips, "I love you so much, babe. Every wonderful thing in my life is because of you."

Elizabeth grinned and nodded, "Back atcha, Dr. McCord. What would I do without you?"

* * *

Thanks so much to everyone reading. It makes me so happy to know my hard work is appreciated and I hope you know how much I appreciate you for taking the time to read this and even more if you leave me a review! This was quite the ordeal to get posted, I'm on vacation and brought my old computer and it just didn't want to connect to any wifi and then when I got it connected fanfiction didn't want to let me submit the chapter...it's been a struggle! Goodnight loves & I hope this is enjoyable!

xo J


	13. Chapter 13

Henry brought his wife a cup of tea as she lounged on the couch in the family room with their two-day-old daughter. Elizabeth had Kate cradled sweetly against her chest, the tiny baby was fast asleep, content to be close to her mother. Henry couldn't stop smiling at the sight of them. He set her cup on the end table and noticed her phone was face down and vibrating. "Babe, your phone is going off."

He sat down next to her and watched as Elizabeth shook her head. "It's Ali, she won't stop texting me about Kate so I decided to stop answering." Suddenly Henry's phone vibrated in his pocket and he wasn't surprised to see that it was Ali.

"Do not answer unless you're going to tell her to put her damn phone away." Elizabeth said sternly, "She has finals next week and she needs to focus."

Henry took out his phone and texted his daughter back. _Your little sister is fine. Your Mom and I have done this before. Pay attention in school and stop texting us._

Elizabeth smiled, "It's cute she's so invested but I'm afraid she's going to space out on her finals and I don't want that."

"She knows she needs to do well on her finals. She can do this."

"I know she _can_ do this, I just don't want her so preoccupied with her little sister that she doesn't put in the maximum effort." Elizabeth said with a sigh.

Henry frowned, he obviously couldn't help that Elizabeth was stressing out about Ali but he would have a little chat with their middle daughter when she got home. Elizabeth really didn't need the extra stress right now and Ali would understand. It wasn't her fault she was so overwhelmed with excitement about her little sister. Then he had a realization and he smiled, "Ali has a little sister now."

Elizabeth grinned and repeated, "Ali has a little sister." She looked down at her baby daughter and ran her hand along the baby's soft, perfect cheek. "You're a little sister." She cooed to the baby, her eyes getting a little glassy.

Henry noticed and reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

Elizabeth sniffled and wiped away a rogue tear. "Dammit, I hate being so emotional."

Henry scooted closer to her and reached out to touch her cheek and turn her head toward him. "You just had a baby, you get to be emotional. You could cry about your decaf coffee and it would be understandable."

Elizabeth laughed, "I could probably manage that. I love this kid to death and I don't want to sound ungrateful but I really miss regular coffee. At least when I was exhausted from work and could have regular coffee it would mean I could be somewhat put together instead of this disgusting mess I am currently."

Henry frowned, "Don't say that, you're gorgeous, you just created a human being. Nothing is sexier than that." He said, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

She sighed; she wasn't having his flattery right now. "Maybe in a couple weeks but right now I'm gross." She snuggled into Henry's side and adjusted Kate so she was against her shoulder and then leaned down so she could kiss Kate's head and run a hand in soothing circles over her back. Henry took a moment to just observe his beautiful wife and their sweet girl. She was always radiant in his eyes even if she didn't feel that way. But he had something for her that would hopefully help her feel a little better. He had put the box in the pocket of his sweats and he reached down to pull it out. Elizabeth saw it immediately and her eyes lit up. "Henry, you didn't."

He laughed, "What do you mean? Of course I did."

Elizabeth shook her head at her sweet husband but she couldn't stop smiling.

"Listen, we made a baby together and then you grew that baby inside you for nine months. Getting you a little present isn't even close to being enough to show you how much I love and appreciate you."

Elizabeth was fairly certain she was going to start crying uncontrollably as she fought to hold herself together.

"I'll trade you, baby for the box?" Henry asked.

Elizabeth laughed and nodded. Henry set the box on his lap and Elizabeth carefully shifted their daughter over to him.

She picked up the little blue box, carefully untying the white ribbon surrounding it and then opening the delicate blue bag inside. She felt her breath hitch as she pulled out a stunning necklace. Everything Henry picked for her was beautiful but this sweet gift brought tears to her eyes. It was a gold key pendant with an intricate heart and diamonds. It was gorgeous and Elizabeth felt tears start to run down her face at the thoughtfulness of her sweet husband.

"Babe, I love it so much. It's so perfect."

"Are you sure? If you don't love it you can exchange it."

She shook her head, "No, it's beautiful. I absolutely love it." She carefully strung it around her neck and adjusted it so it lay perfectly on her chest. She felt her eyes starting to water again. Henry was just the sweetest. She looked over at her daughter, her little blue eyes focused on her mother. "Look what Daddy got me, baby girl. He already gave me Stevie and Ali and Jason and you and you're the best presents ever but this is a pretty fantastic one too."

Henry smiled and wrapped an arm around his wife. "I love you so much, babe. Now get some sleep. You deserve it. I'll wake you up when she wants to be fed."

Elizabeth leaned forward to kiss Henry lightly on the lips, "Thank you, babe. I love you."

Stevie came home a little later and came into the family room where her parents were hanging out with her little sister. "Oh, Dad you gave Mom the necklace! It's so pretty. Do you like it, Mom?"

Elizabeth smiled as she fingered the key around her neck, "It's gorgeous. Did you help him pick it out?"

Stevie shook her head, "No, he picked it out; he just showed it to me and Ali before he ordered it to make sure."

Henry smiled, "I just needed to be sure."

"Well you did great, it's perfect." She said, reaching over to squeeze Henry's hand.

"Hey Mom, can I hold Kate for a little while?" Stevie asked, hoping to get some quality time in with her little sister.

Elizabeth smiled, "Of course you can, sweetheart." She handed Kate over and she couldn't help but grin like an idiot when Stevie took Kate in her arms. She was so sweet with her, the way she cooed over her little sister was absolutely precious.

"Did your final go okay, baby?" She asked her oldest.

Stevie nodded, "Yeah, it was fine." But she wasn't really paying attention to the question; she was more focused on her baby sister. "Hi Kate," she cooed, "Have you been good today for Mommy and Daddy? I'm sure you have." She sat down next to her mom on the couch.

Elizabeth turned to look at Henry, "We're being ignored in favor of the tiny human."

Henry laughed, "I can't say I blame her, the tiny human is pretty damn cute."

Stevie rolled her eyes at her parents and then grinned down at her little sister, "You _are_ just the cutest, baby girl."

They all had lunch and Kate fell fast asleep and Elizabeth had gotten quiet meaning she was exhausted and trying her hardest not to be grumpy. Henry knew Elizabeth needed to get some sleep too. He nudged his wife. "Hey babe, how about you go upstairs and get a nap?"

Elizabeth sighed, she wanted to spend time with her family but she was really exhausted. She was feeling a little extra worn out and she knew a nap would do her some good.

Henry helped her up and led her upstairs where he got her all tucked into their cozy bed, making every effort to ensure she was comfortable considering she had been having a little trouble with that due to her stitches.

She waved him off, "Henry, I'm fine, I promise. You're hovering." Elizabeth muttered, her eyes half closed.

Henry chuckled and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "I know, I'm sorry. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Elizabeth smiled and reached out to grab Henry's hand. "I know. Thank you. I love you." With that her eyes fell shut and she was fast asleep.

Henry headed back downstairs to Stevie and Kate.

"Mom is…I mean she's…this is all normal, right?" Stevie asked, a little unsure of her words.

Henry sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her. "Oh sweetheart, of course. Mom's fine. She had a baby and that makes your hormones go crazy and on top of that she had major surgery. She's just exhausted physically and emotionally."

Stevie pursed her lips and nodded, "I mean I know that's what's supposed to happen I've just never really seen it. I don't really remember how she was after Ali or Jason; I was a little too young to remember."

Henry stifled a laugh, "Oh god, it was way worse after Jason. You were 8, Ali was 4 and we had an infant. We were so sleep deprived I honestly don't know how we managed to do anything. I think keeping you guys alive was a minor miracle."

Stevie laughed, "Well, this time around we're all basically self-sufficient and happy to help out whenever we can."

Henry squeezed Stevie's shoulder, "Thanks kiddo, that really means a lot."

Elizabeth came downstairs a little later to find Ali and Jason had arrived home and everyone was hanging out in the living room. She felt a lot better after her nap and was so happy to spend some time with her family.

"Hey Mom!" Jason said, his eyes lighting up when he saw her. It made her heart swell to have her son so happy to see her and she couldn't have been any happier about how well he had come around to his little sister.

"Hi baby, how are you?" She asked.

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her and she was happy to sink into his hug. "I'm good, Mom. How are you?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Well, I had a great nap so I feel pretty good."

Henry smiled at his wife, the nap seemed to have done her some good and he was happy about that. She let go of Jason and Henry grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the couch and into his lap. She giggled and nuzzled her head into his neck. Henry was shocked when none of the kids made any noises that conveyed their disgust with their parents, though he supposed it was because they were a little on edge about how to act around their mother because they didn't want to say or do anything that would send her into an emotional tailspin. Henry supposed that he and Elizabeth could use that to their advantage for now.

The night went by smoothly, the whole family was enjoying just hanging out together while they all took care of Kate, and Henry and Elizabeth were happy about spending more time with the kids than they had in a while.

They went to bed that night and Kate seemed to be a little fussier than she had the previous nights. Not unbearably so, just a little harder to get back to sleep each time she woke up.

Henry was exhausted since he hadn't napped much that day and Elizabeth was clearly struggling keeping herself together.

It was around 4 AM and Elizabeth was sitting on the cozy chair in the corner of the room, holding Kate close while Henry was in the bathroom.

Henry walked out of the bathroom and immediately noticed his wife was crying silent tears. Obviously, it wasn't out of the ordinary, she just had a baby and her hormones were all over the place. But this looked like a little more than just wonky hormones. He kneeled down beside her and stroked her arm gently, "Baby, what's wrong?"

Elizabeth sniffled and actually started to laugh. "It's nothing. I'm fine. She's just so beautiful. Damn hormones."

Henry's eyes grew wide and he pursed his lips, he was afraid to laugh at her because he didn't want to send her back to tears. But he didn't have to do anything because a moment later she started crying again. "I'm so sorry, Henry."

Henry smiled, "What are you apologizing to me for?" He asked as he ran his hand along her cheek.

"I'm an emotional mess!" She exclaimed, clearly annoyed with herself.

"Babe come on, remember you're allowed to be an emotional mess, you just had a baby."

Elizabeth managed a small smile, "I know but it's more than that."

"Talk to me, gorgeous."

Elizabeth sighed, "Being with all the kids tonight, all of us together and hanging out just made me think a lot about when they were babies. With Stevie we were so young and you were still in school and we just had to accept that we weren't going to be able to be there for everything because we wanted to work hard and give her the life she deserved and with Ali and Jason it was better but we still worked our asses off because we were young and we had to and we missed things but we got to be there for the important stuff. Now we have these crazy jobs but we're not working hard because we have to, we don't have to worry anymore about paying for the best schools or programs or anything she might need. We can literally give this kid anything she wants, but what if we miss all these important moments in her life because we're so focused on our careers? What good is giving her all that if we can't be there to support her?"

Henry sighed, "We're not going to miss all the important moments in her life. I promise you this kid is going to grow up every day knowing how loved and cherished she is, whether or not we can make it to every soccer game or debate tournament or school play or whatever activity her heart desires. We may not need to work to give this kid a great life but I would argue that what you're doing is so important to her future. You literally go to work every day and bust your ass in order to make sure we're leaving a better world for our kids. That's the most amazing thing you could ever give her. We're going to be there to support her. She's not going to grow up the same way as the older kids and that's okay. Sometimes she's going to get to leave school and travel places with her Mom and she's going to learn so much from you and you're going to be her hero. I know it, babe. So you be an emotional mess all you want, but don't fret about how this kid's going to grow up because we're going to give her a great life. I promise you that."

Elizabeth smiled and reached out to touch Henry's cheek, "Thank you for that. I may need you to remind me every so often, especially when I go back to work."

Henry smiled, "I will never stop reminding you."

Elizabeth just smiled back, "Thank you. I appreciate that even though it doesn't make me feel any less crazy for breaking down over that hole in my favorite sweater earlier." She paused to roll her eyes and laugh, "I don't know…maybe it's because I'm older and I kind of forgot how bad this damn emotional trampoline is or maybe I'm just losing my mind from exhaustion?"

Henry tucked a lock of loose hair behind her ear, "You're not losing your mind. You're actually doing a lot better than you were with the older kids."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up, "Really? You're not just saying that?"

This time Henry couldn't help but laugh, "No! Of course I'm not just saying that. I promise you, you're doing great."

She bit her lip, "You know, it was nice that we got to snuggle together downstairs and not one kid said anything about us being gross, how long do you think that will last?"

Henry laughed, "Probably not as long as we'd like it to last but I'll take whatever we can get."

The next day they were all hanging out in the living room again. It seemed like it was going to be standard for the next few months, as was Ali and Stevie arguing about who got to hold Kate when and for how long. Elizabeth didn't mind though, she was just glad the girls wanted to be around their little sister. Jason seemed to still be a little nervous about holding her but he clearly loved being around her and Elizabeth was more than happy with that. He had come quite a long way.

He was sitting next to Stevie as she held Kate. "So...is this all we do with her until she can sit up and play and stuff?" Jason asked.

Stevie rolled her eyes, "She's four days old, Jason, what did you expect her to do?"

Jason scowled at his older sister, "That's not what I meant!"

"All right you two, Jason its fine, Stevie be nice." Henry said, pointing at Stevie and Jason. "Kate is mostly going to eat, sleep, cry, and poop for the next couple months. But she'll also start smiling and laughing and recognizing us and I know it doesn't sound exciting but the first time you realize she recognizes you will be a pretty amazing feeling."

Elizabeth couldn't stop drooling over Henry. He was so adorable when he talked about their kids and it made her heart swell with love for him. She recalled how before she met him she had been fairly certain she didn't want to have a family of her own. She had lost the two people she loved most in the world and she wasn't sure she would ever be ready to open her heart up to a man let alone children of her own. And what if she was the one who lost them? She couldn't lose any more people. Then she met Henry McCord and everything changed. She loved him like she had never loved anyone else and it terrified her. She had been hesitant at first but slowly he won her over and she realized no matter what happened she would never be able to stop loving him. She trusted Henry completely and early in their relationship she had frequently found herself wondering what their children would be like. She had always imagined two children who were the perfect combination of each of them and during each one of her pregnancies she frequently thought about how lucky she was to be connected to Henry not only in love and marriage but also through their beautiful children, through souls. She had never pictured four children. Granted she had never even pictured three, but now they had four and she was beyond thrilled. She and Henry had made four beautiful humans together and whatever they did in their careers meant nothing without each other and their beautiful children.

She must have zoned out because Henry sat next to her and squeezed her thigh gently, "Babe, you okay?"

She just grinned at him, "I'm perfect." She leaned in for a kiss and it was a little deeper than she originally planned. None of the kids said anything again; this was something she could get used to.

Henry didn't question her good mood, he was just happy to know that she was happy. That was all he needed.

Later that night they had gotten Kate settled into bed and were settling in themselves. Henry made sure Elizabeth was comfortable and he got into bed next to her, wrapping his strong arms around her and spooning her. Elizabeth smiled and pulled his arms around her tighter as she snuggled back into his embrace.

Henry kissed her neck and then rested his head on her shoulder and they both just watched their daughter sleep peacefully. She made a little noise and Henry smiled, "Oh to know what little miss Katharine is dreaming about."

Elizabeth laughed, "You know, my Mom would have just died if she knew we spelled Katharine with an 'a' like Katharine Hepburn. She loved her movies so much."

Henry squeezed his wife gently, "She's probably looking down on you thinking how proud of you she is."

Elizabeth tried to blink away the few tears forming in her eyes, "Dammit, can I just blame this on the exhaustion?" She tried to joke.

Henry kissed her cheek, "I'm going to keep repeating this, I don't care how often I have to do it, just let yourself be emotional. Don't try to control it. And you're allowed to feel sad that your parents never got to meet our kids. It is sad."

Elizabeth wiped a tear from her eyes as she looked over at the serene little girl swaddled in her bassinet. "I think my Mom is probably looking down laughing about how we have four children when I so often insisted I wasn't having any. She always told me I'd change my mind when I met the right man. I could practically hear her say 'I told you so' the day I met you. I wish she could have met you. She would have adored you."

Henry loved when Elizabeth talked about her parents even if it was just small mentions; he had felt so honored the first time she told him about them and she always said how much they would have liked him. He really hoped that was true and he hoped they knew he would take care of their daughter no matter what. "I wish I could have met her too."

"I miss your Mom too." Elizabeth added, "I called her so many times freaking out when I was pregnant with Stevie and she always talked me down. She was so good with all the kids and she was so kind and gentle. You are so much like her though and I know she's so proud of you."

Henry could feel his own tears start to come and he leaned over Elizabeth and turned her head gently toward him so he could kiss her lips.

She smiled against his lips; "I think your lips keep me sane, Dr. McCord."

"Well, that is their sole purpose in life so I'm glad to know they're doing their job."

Elizabeth turned her head back around and closed her eyes, "I love you, Henry."

He kissed her neck once again and shut his own eyes, "I love you, too."

* * *

I've been over a million times how I want to continue this while Kate is still an infant because I don't want to skip around too much just to things that are significant or skip over the difficult things about having a baby so right now I'm just trying out this format where it's a lot of snippets of different aspects of their lives. Don't worry though, I'll do full chapters on things like Christmas and Conrad and her staff meeting Kate and things like that as well. I want this to be honest while still being fun and adorable...if that makes sense? I also want to include more story lines with the kids because I am a kid with significantly older siblings and I think it's the best thing in the world. Anyway...please leave me some love?! Of course, THANK YOU for reading! x J


	14. Chapter 14

Mid morning on Saturday Henry and Ali were sitting downstairs together. Stevie and Jason were out and Elizabeth was taking a nap upstairs so they were just hanging out and taking care of Kate together.

Ali had Kate in her arms when suddenly she caught a whiff of something disgusting.

"Oh my god, what on earth is that smell?" She exclaimed, adjusting Kate in her arms as he look of horror only intensified. "Oh god...her diaper feels strangely heavy. Dad!" Ali exclaimed, panicking a little as she carefully stood up and walked over to her Dad to hand her little sister off. Henry just laughed at her. "Oh my god, Dad please take her I can feel the poo getting warm underneath her outfit. Oh my god."

Henry stood up and took the baby from his middle daughter. "You want to hold her all the time but you can't change a poopy diaper?" He teased.

Ali's face contorted to a look of pure disgust. "Not this one, it feels like there's poo running down her legs. No thank you, she's my sister but she's your daughter so I am invoking my sisterly privileges."

Henry just laughed, "Isn't it supposed to be I'm the Dad so I get to tell you what to do?"

Ali's eyes grew wide in horror and Henry burst out laughing even harder.

"Calm down, I'll change her. I think she's going to need a bath too because I can feel this mess and it doesn't bode well."

"Well..." Ali started, "can I help with the bath?"

Henry was going to tease her about wanting to help with the fun stuff but not the poo but he decided not to. He smiled at his middle daughter, "Of course, sweetheart."

They walked up the stairs and Henry walked into the nursery to dispose of everything that was no doubt drenched in poop and Alison went into his bathroom to pull out all of Kate's bath things.

Sure enough the minute Henry opened his daughter's onesie there was poop absolutely everywhere. "Oh baby girl, this is just a poo masterpiece. You're an artist."

"You are so weird."

Henry looked up and grinned at his wife standing in the doorway. She was smiling and shaking her head.

"Hey babe, how was the nap?"

Elizabeth stared walking toward him. "It was good, thank you. I'll help you clean up baby girl and then you can take one."

Kate had started to cry and Elizabeth reached out to touch her head, "Its okay, baby girl. Daddy is going to get all the poo off you and then we'll take a bath."

She ran her fingers over the baby's soft hair and smiled down at her. Even crying she was absolutely perfect. "Kate, you don't need to cry, Daddy is taking care of you."

The smell suddenly hit Elizabeth in full force. "Oh my god, baby girl, what on earth am I feeding you? What on earth am I feeding me?"

Henry laughed, "At least it stayed in her onesie but I don't know if that's salvageable or if we should toss it?"

Elizabeth glanced at it and made a face, "Oh god, of course it's a white one. Why do they even make white clothing for babies? It doesn't make any sense. It's like asking for uncontrollable poop and vomit."

Henry just kept laughing, she had a point. Once they had Kate all cleaned up they took her into their bathroom where Ali already had most things going.

Elizabeth smiled with pride, "Al, you did great."

Ali beamed, "Thanks Mom."

Henry had gotten Kate the cutest little whale bathtub and Ali had set it all up and gotten everything needed including towels set out for her sister.

Elizabeth stood near Kate's head, making sure to help keep the baby calm but she was mostly just enjoying how sweet it was to watch Henry talk Ali through everything. Ali was really concentrating, Elizabeth could tell that she was really taking everything her Dad told her seriously and filing it away for future reference and Elizabeth found that so sweet. It was such a relief that the kids were taking this huge change in their lives with such enthusiasm. Kate seemed to enjoy the warm water as her sister sponged it over her little body. She wasn't being too fussy and even did well when Ali wiped her eyes and ears.

"You're doing so good, baby girl." Elizabeth cooed to her baby. "You too, Al." She said as she reached out to squeeze Ali's shoulder.

Ali smiled and shrugged, "This stuff is kind of fun and she's just so cute I can't get over it."

Henry laughed as he cradled Kate, clad in an adorable shark towel, against his shoulder and leaned over to kiss Ali on the forehead. "You were this cute too. You're still cute."

Ali rolled her eyes, "Come on, Dad."

Elizabeth laughed, "It's true! You're very cute, Al."

Ali just continued to roll her eyes and shake her head, "You guys are so weird."

They finished up with Kate's bath and all of them crawled into Henry and Elizabeth's bed. Elizabeth held onto Kate, Ali snuggled in next to her, and Henry passed out almost right away next to them. Elizabeth was glad he was napping, he had been making sure she got enough sleep but she was getting worried about him getting enough too.

They all just hung out until Ali left to go to a study group and Elizabeth and Henry were getting ready for the doctor to come over for Kate's checkup. Dr. Bell had set them up with a pediatrician she highly recommended and she had been happy to accommodate Elizabeth and Henry's needs such as agreeing to come to the house for Kate's first basic checkup since there was nothing that absolutely had to be done at the hospital.

Elizabeth was feeling a little anxious. She had fed her and changed her diaper and was fussing over her because of her nerves about the pediatricians visit. "Henry, I think she's too little, do you think she's too little?"

He shook his head; "She's not too little. She's well within the normal weight range. Don't freak yourself out like this."

Elizabeth frowned, she did know that but rational thought seemed to go out the window when it came to the well being of her infant daughter. She had been a little paranoid ever since they had the scare when she was pregnant and she hated that it was getting the best of her. She shook her head, "You're right, I'm sorry, and I know the doctors say she's perfectly healthy and well within the normal weight range. It's just that the older kids were all bigger and I just don't need any surprises."

Henry walked over to her and squeezed her shoulder; he knew exactly what she meant. "She's fine, the doctor will come check her out and tell you the same thing. She's perfect, little but perfect."

He reached over to tickle Kate's little arm, "You're just little, aren't you baby girl? That's okay, because you're just perfect."

Elizabeth couldn't help but grin; Henry was just so cute with their daughter.

They headed downstairs to wait for the doctor and Elizabeth was antsy and was walking around holding Kate even though she knew she shouldn't be.

"Elizabeth," Henry said sternly.

She just waved him off. "Stop it! I'm fine for a little while. My stitches don't even hurt."

Henry just shook his head, he knew better than to argue with her. Dr. Bell and their new pediatrician arrived and Henry let them in the door. They greeted the doctors and escorted them upstairs. They had met the new pediatrician a couple times and she had come very highly recommended by Dr. Bell so Henry was grateful Elizabeth at least had that piece of mind. They figured all this would be easiest in Kate's room on her large changing table and the doctor agreed. She set everything up and was ready to take a look at Kate.

"Let's take a look at you, miss Kate." Dr. Rosen said as Elizabeth set her down on the changing table and she immediately scrunched up her face like she was about to cry.

"Baby girl, don't cry. Mommy is right here." She put her hand on Kate's head and the infant calmed down a bit.

Dr. Rosen smiled, "Okay, Kate, I'm going to make this as quick as I can."

Kate was calm for the exam but Elizabeth was edgy. Henry reached out to wrap his arm around her waist and squeezed her reassuringly. When Dr. Rosen weighed her Elizabeth got really nervous. "She lost just a little weight, she's at 6 pounds 3 ounces." That made Elizabeth really nervous. "Isn't she supposed to start gaining the weight back by now? All our other kids were the same weight or slightly higher after the initial loss the first week."

"It's fine. Some babies just don't gain weight as quickly. She looks very healthy and you said she's eating well so it doesn't look like it will be a problem. I can come back next week. If she's lost any more weight or hasn't started gaining it back then we should look into it but right now she's perfectly fine."

Elizabeth gritted her teeth, "I'm so sorry, can you come back next week? We're going to be out at our farm. I can arrange all your transportation out there. I know I sound crazy, this is my fourth kid and I should be used to all this by now but I'm out of practice and the little scare we had when I was pregnant messed me up a little bit."

Dr. Rosen smiled, "Its fine. I'm happy to come out next week. I'd rather you be cautious. Don't apologize for that."

Elizabeth smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for that. We appreciate it."

"How are _you_ feeling, besides the anxiety about her weight?" Dr. Bell cut in.

Elizabeth sighed, "Good. She sleeps better than any of our other kids ever did. I'm emotional and crying fairly often but that's been typical after all my pregnancies. No really intense feelings of sadness or anxiety. I don't think I've been extremely moody, have I?" She turned to Henry.

He shook his head, "No, she's been doing really well. Like she said, she's emotional but it's nothing out of control. I think she's doing really well."

Elizabeth grinned at her husband and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks baby, I'm happy I'm not driving you too crazy."

Henry laughed, "Never."

Elizabeth smiled at him and turned back to the doctor. "Um what else? Oh, my stitches feel okay. I walked around a bit with her today and I know I probably shouldn't have. Henry inspects them for me and says they look good. Cramps have been varying degrees of pain, nothing too terrible yet, today they aren't bad."

Henry nodded his agreement.

"That's great. Please don't hesitate to let me know any concerns or questions you have. I'll just check your stitches quickly and I think you're good to go."

Dr. Rosen handed Kate to Henry and he snuggled her up while Elizabeth got her stitches checked by Dr. Bell.

"Any more questions?" She asked once she was finished.

Elizabeth bit her lip, "Sex, is six weeks still recommended even with a c-section?"

Henry's face was turning red but Dr. Bell was ever the professional. "Definitely six weeks still. That's my recommendation, though I do think it's most important to listen to your own body. If you're comfortable after four sometimes you can try it but especially with a c-section sometimes the movement can make you feel worse even if you've been feeling good."

Elizabeth frowned. That didn't sound pleasant. Six weeks was fine with her. "Thank you."

"I would recommend condoms though until you can get back on a hormonal birth control. I know you're 46 but you had this little one and that was while on birth control. Fertility can be heightened after birth even if you're still breastfeeding."

Elizabeth pursed her lip, trying not to laugh. "Wow, my poor assistant is going to love buying those at the drugstore."

Dr. Bell laughed, "He seems like a very good guy."

"Don't even get me started. That kid saves my life daily."

"I think you'd starve if you didn't have Blake or at least get so hangry you lose your mind." Henry chimed in, happy the conversation moved away from sex.

Elizabeth laughed, he was so right. They saw the doctors out and afterward they were lounging on the sofa and Elizabeth was just enjoying watching her little girl sound asleep on her father's chest. She ran her hand along Kate's back. "Daddy's cozy isn't he, sweet girl?" She said with a grin. "The doctors agree you're just perfect but you need to start gaining some weight. Can you do that for Mommy so she doesn't have to worry about you?"

"Tell Mommy she doesn't need to worry about you, you're perfect sweetheart and you're going to gain your weight you just want to do it on your own time." Henry said, turning and kissing the little girl sweetly.

Elizabeth grinned, "How about food and then a nap?"

Later when Elizabeth had fed Kate the three of them all laid down to relax. Kate was sound asleep in her sleeper and Elizabeth was curled up in Henry's arms on the couch. "I know they say this is supposed to be harder when you're older, and I hope I don't jinx us, but this doesn't feel as difficult. Maybe its just Kate?"

Henry smiled and kissed Elizabeth's neck. "I don't know, babe, but I hope she stays like this because you're right, she's giving us a pretty easy time."

"I have a feeling she's going to be easy up until that first step and then we're never going to sleep again."

Henry chuckled, "Well we have a ways to go before then thankfully."

"It's too bad she can't just never grow up. She could be my baby forever." Elizabeth said quietly as she stroked the little girl's head.

"She's going to be your baby forever, no matter how old she is."

Elizabeth smiled, "I love that she's so new but I still feel like I know her so well."

"You've known her for nine months. She grew inside you. That never stops feeling incredible." Henry said as he reached down to run his hand over her stomach.

Elizabeth smiled and intertwined their fingers. "You're right. I thought I was used to it but it's still amazing. We made a whole little person."

Elizabeth felt like they had set themselves up by talking about how easy Kate was because she started being fussy, she would eat, sleep for about thirty minutes, and wake up crying. This pattern wasn't allowing either of her parents much sleep.

The next morning came far too early and after getting a little more sleep-almost three hours worth-Elizabeth was awakened by the sound of a very unhappy, wailing baby. Henry started to move too but she was quicker and picked Kate up and brought her to the nursery to change her. Her face was all scrunched up and she looked pitiful. "Shhh, it's okay baby girl. Mommy's got you, let's get you changed." She got the baby out of her dirty diaper and onesie and into a fresh clean diaper. She bent down to grab a onesie and she cringed at the pressure it created on her stitches, not to mention the cramping that she had initially thought might not be too bad this time but had been progressively getting worse. She hadn't been feeling too bad but something about the combination of waking up more often than usual last night combined with walking around with Kate in her arms yesterday like she shouldn't have, had left her feeling fairly awful this morning.

Of course the minute she cringed, Henry walked in the door.

He ran over to her and grabbed her arm. "Babe, you need to take it easy."

She was uncomfortable and exhausted and she just wasn't in the mood for this right now. "I am taking it easy, Henry." She scowled. "All I did was bend down, that's not exactly a difficult task."

"It is when your uterus is trying to shrink back to its normal size and on top of that is being held together by stitches." He said, trying to be playful with her.

She scowled, "I wish they would have just taken it all out."

Henry gripped her arm gently and ran a hand through her hair, "I'm sorry, honey. Is there anything I can do?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Unless you can breastfeed baby girl then no." She was sort of dreading that, her boobs were sore and raw.

He rubbed her neck soothingly, "Okay, how about I go make sure there are ice packs in the fridge for when you're done?"

Elizabeth nodded her head; he was so sweet she thought she could cry. God she was a mess this morning. She changed Kate into a new onesie and then they all went back into the bedroom and Henry got her situated comfortably so she could feed their daughter. She just pulled off her shirt and settled into the bed, cringing as she sat down. "How is it possible that fabric hurts my skin?"

"Hopefully that will go away after baby girl has her breakfast."

"Yeah and then I'll just need to ice them because it's like a tiny alien is gnawing on my boobs."

Henry just kissed the side of her head, she had a right to be grumpy, she was emotional and uncomfortable and in pain. He wished there was more he could do for her.

He let Kate get settled and then he left to grab Elizabeth ice packs for when she was finished and made sure there were at least two spares in the freezer in case she needed them.

He settled back into bed with his wife and daughter. Elizabeth looked more than exhausted.

"How bad does it hurt, don't sugar coat?"

Elizabeth sighed and rolled her head over to face him, she was too tired to sugar coat. "Pretty awful, the stitches hurt a little but the cramping is what's really getting me today. My boobs feel pretty awful as well. I really didn't feel nearly this awful yesterday. Thank you for getting the ice packs."

"Anything you need. Mind if we do our usual stitches check when Kate's done?"

Elizabeth sighed but nodded, "Yeah that's probably a good idea."

After Kate was finished Henry burped her and she fell fast asleep the minute he laid her down on her pillow next to her Mom.

Elizabeth's mood had slightly improved when Henry had taken Kate and she had gotten to put the ice packs on her boobs. She couldn't stand the thought of putting a shirt on so she was just holding them there as she lay on the bed. Henry pulled the sheet down to check her stitches and she groaned and looked away when he revealed her stomach. "I cannot look at myself like this anymore, I'm enough of a mess as is."

Henry was gently peeling the bandage off her body and looked up at her with a frown, "Elizabeth, don't do that to yourself."

She sighed in exasperation and she looked like she was about to cry. "I'm 46 years old, Henry, not 25, my body doesn't have that elasticity anymore. What if it doesn't all go back the way it's supposed to?"

Henry stopped what he was doing and moved so he was on the edge of the bed sitting next to her and he tucked a loose lock of her messy hair behind her ear. "Hey hey, I know I said you get to be emotional and you do, but this isn't worth stressing yourself out about. You barely gained anything and you already look like you lost it all. Honestly you look like maybe you just had a big cheeseburger for lunch."

Elizabeth couldn't help herself when she started laughing though her tears, "Henry that isn't funny." Her tone and the little smile on her face said otherwise.

Henry leaned down to kiss her, "You're gorgeous, the most beautiful woman on earth. You are even more beautiful right now than you were the day we met."

She arched her eyebrow in amusement, "Are you sure about that? Do you really want to commit to that? I had just about zero percent body fat and could put my legs behind my head." She said, still trying not to laugh but failing.

Henry couldn't help but laugh at her comment too. "Absolutely, as gorgeous as that brilliant and infuriating," she couldn't help but giggle at that term, recalling herself in college, "18 year old was I think my 46 year old wife who is still brilliant and infuriating but gave me the four most wonderful children on the planet and makes me happy to grow old as long as I get to do it with her and wake up every day to her gorgeous face, is the most stunning woman on the planet."

Even through her laughter she felt a little emotional about Henry's sweet words. He really knew what to say to make her smile.

He leaned in to kiss her once again and whispered, "And I bet if she got back into yoga she could still put her legs behind her head."

She playfully smacked him and burst out laughing. "Thank you baby, I love you."

He leaned in to kiss her again, "I love you too, always. Don't forget it."

He then went back to changing her bandage and assessing her stitches. They seemed to be healing properly. He tucked Elizabeth back into bed under the cozy comforter and climbed back in and decided to cuddle Kate until she needed a diaper change. Then he would change her and get Elizabeth and himself some breakfast.

There was a knock at the door. Ali had taken to coming in every morning to spend some time with her little sister before school.

"Is it okay if I come in?" She called from outside the door. Elizabeth appreciated that she always checked before just poking her head inside when the door was closed.

"Well, I'm half naked but honestly it doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you." Elizabeth called out. She was under the sheet but truly she didn't really care what her daughters saw.

Ali popped her head in, "I don't mind. Are you sure?"

Elizabeth nodded and motioned her into the room. "Yeah, come here, Noodle."

Ali looked at her mother who looked strange under the covers with her arms around her torso seemingly holding her breasts. "Are you okay, Mom?" Ali asked, concern evident in her eyes.

Elizabeth nodded, "I didn't want to put a bra on so I'm trying to hold the ice packs up myself."

Ali immediately relaxed and smiled, "Oh, I see. Does it really hurt?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I'm not going to lie to you baby, it's not great."

"Well…do you need me to go out and pick up anything?"

Elizabeth sighed, "Oh Noodle you're so sweet, I appreciate that but I don't think I need anything."

"Okay, just let me know though if you change your mind?"

"Of course baby, you're the best."

"Can I hold Kate for a little bit?" She asked, motioning toward her father.

"Well, I think miss Kate needs to be changed, do you want to help me?"

Ali nodded and she and Henry got up to take Kate to the nursery. They got her a new diaper and Ali picked out a cute onesie with penguins on it. Ali giggled as they put on the outfit and Kate kept wiggling her arms and impeding their efforts. "So…when am I going to get to tell my friends about Kate?"

Henry sighed and put his arm around Ali's shoulders. "I know it's hard to keep this quiet, Noodle. We just want to wait until after the holiday. Has anyone been asking you?"

Ali shrugged, "Just sort of casual inquiries from friends, I never told anyone a specific timeline but they put it together."

"You just have a couple more days of school before holiday break, you can do this kiddo and then when break is over you can talk about her nonstop."

Ali grinned, "I can't wait. It's so hard not to gush about her to all my friends."

Henry smiled and kissed Ali's head, "I'm glad you're excited. Your Mom and I really appreciate how helpful you've been and how you've never even complained once about all this crazy change. I just want to remind you that if you need something please come to us, I know this is hectic but we're never too busy for you, got it?" He pulled back to look her in the eye so she knew he was serious.

Ali smiled and nodded, "I know. Thanks Dad."

* * *

First thing...is anyone else having an issue where once you upload a document FF deletes a couple lines at the beginning?

Second thing...thank you so so so much for reading. I appreciate it so much. Please please leave me a review, by now I suppose it's no secret that I'm needy and crave validation. lol x J


	15. Chapter 15

Major apologies this is taking me ages. I honestly have no explanation other than the last few months I've been traveling a lot and getting ready for grad school and breaking my stupid ankle in Argentina and I've been focusing on my other multi-chapter a little more because I've been dealing with some depression issues. So honestly I am so sorry and I truly appreciate all the kind things you have to say about this story and I am going to continue with it, I swear. It means the world to me that you stick with it. Thank you.

* * *

Henry didn't want Elizabeth walking around with Kate while she still had staples. Elizabeth grumbled about it but deep down she understood and she was happy to get them out soon. She would be okay as long as she restrained herself but risking dropping Kate or hurting her in any way was just too much of a risk to take. She liked watching Henry hold her anyway. Kate was tinier than any of the other children had been. She was long, at least for her size, but that was not surprising considering she and Henry weren't short, but she still looked so tiny especially when she was in her father's big hands. His big hand over her small back as he cradled her against his shoulder made her seem so tiny and fragile. She loved how content Kate looked in Henry's arms; tiny and fragile but completely safe. She could be crying one minute and then after her father picked her up she would immediately calm down. It was like she instinctively knew she was safe and secure in her father's arms.

Henry was bouncing her around as he sang her to sleep. Once she dozed off he gently placed her into Elizabeth's arms and the little girl settled in, cozying herself up to her mother without blinking.

Henry grinned, "The baby whisperer does it again."

Elizabeth smiled, "It is your superpower. One of them at least." She said with a wink.

Henry blushed as he made his way to his side of the bed, "Our daughter is right there!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "She's five days old and she's fast asleep. She has no idea what we're talking about and even if she did it's not like I specified! I could mean your superb pancake making skills."

Now it was Henry's turn to roll his eyes. "My pancakes are good but they're not superhero status."

Elizabeth turned to him and smiled. "Everything you do is superhero status to me."

Henry leaned in to kiss her softly. " _You're_ my superhero. You made this perfect little human in your gorgeous body. You are the real superhero. Look at her. She's perfect. You made her." He honesty still couldn't believe this sweet little baby was theirs.

"Don't sell yourself short. You helped." She teased.

Henry laughed, "I know I helped, but babe, she grew inside of you. All our kids went from little cells to humans inside your body. You've done it four times. You are a superhero."

"You're sweet but I'm exhausted, you know the rule, we sleep when she sleeps."

They had a good night with Kate, she was proving to be a fairly easy baby although neither Henry nor Elizabeth wanted to say it out loud and jinx themselves.

Early the next morning Kate stirred and Henry got up with her without waking Elizabeth until he had to. The McCords had always had an unspoken pact originating with Stevie that if one of them was up with one of their children the other was up too. It had started with Henry refusing to go back to sleep during late night feedings and just morphed from there. This morning though, Henry didn't feel bad about breaking that pact. Elizabeth was doing well but being her stubborn self she hadn't truly factored in the physical toll the c-section would have on her and every time she over exerted herself it took a toll on her…although she would never admit it. Henry was a light sleeper and so he was the first to hear Kate stir

Henry turned the fireplace on and bounced Kate around the room as he sang softly to her. After a little while he heard someone coming down the stairs. He cursed himself in his head, he wanted Elizabeth to sleep and he thought he had been so good about not waking her. He was surprised when Ali appeared on the staircase.

She walked over to him, rubbing away the sleep from her eyes.

"Noodle, what are you doing up? I hope I didn't wake you up."

Ali yawned and shook her head, "No, you didn't. I didn't even know anyone was down here until I saw the light. I don't know why I can't sleep."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. You want to sit over here with Kate and me?"

Ali's eyes lit up, "Can I hold her?"

Henry smiled, "Of course. Come on."

Ali sat on the sofa and leaned back so she was snuggly placed between the arm of the sofa and her father. Henry then handed Kate over to Ali and the baby settled in comfortably on Ali's chest.

Ali smiled at her baby sister, "I wish I could fall asleep that easily."

Henry laughed, "You used to."

Ali closed her eyes and kept both her hands securely on her sister.

Henry wrapped his arm around Ali and she settled into his side. He couldn't stop smiling at his girls. Kate was so lucky to have three older siblings.

Ali soon fell asleep and Henry didn't have the heart to move Kate, both girls looked so peaceful. He figured he was up at this point and wasn't going to be getting back to sleep so he would just keep an eye on the girls.

He carefully grabbed a magazine from the table, he didn't want to move too much and wake the girls, and started reading. A half hour or so later Elizabeth made her way downstairs and couldn't help but smile at the sight of Ali asleep on her father's shoulder and snuggling her baby sister.

Elizabeth quietly walked around the sofa and Henry noticed her there. "Hey babe."

Elizabeth grinned, "This is the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life." She whispered as she snapped a couple pictures with her phone and then curled up on Henry's other side.

Henry wrapped his arm around Elizabeth and pulled her close. She settled into his side and he kissed the top of her head. "They look so sweet. You know what I love about their age difference? They're always going to be like this, there's never going to be any sort of competition between them, they just get to love each other and be there for each other and I love that."

Henry kissed the top of his wife's head again and smiled. He thought she was probably right and that made him happy.

Late that morning after they had practically kicked the older children out of the house to school and after Elizabeth had gotten her staples out Henry was finally ready to relax but Elizabeth was in a foul mood. Actually getting her staples out hadn't been bad, but the whole process of sneaking into the doctor's office without being seen has stressed her out. She had originally planned to just go by herself but after the doctor suggested getting over some quick tests for Kate they had just decided to do it now instead of wait. Everything had gone well and in spite of reassurance from Dr. Rosen that Kate was perfectly healthy; Elizabeth couldn't stop panicking.

She stood at Kate's changing table as she changed her daughter and then dressed her in an adorable Supergirl one piece that Henry had gone nuts over when he'd found, going so far as to order it in several sizes so she had backups as she grew.

Henry walked in as she was finishing and his eyes lit up, "Look at my little Supergirl!"

Elizabeth smiled as Henry picked their daughter up and snuggled her close. "Yeah, too bad even the newborn size is big on her." She said as she pulled the sleeve up her daughters arm as it had already slipped over her little hand.

"Hey, come on, she's perfectly normal. Remember Alison was only 7 pounds."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "That's 6 more ounces, that's a lot for a baby."

"Its still perfectly normal. She may be on the small side but the doctor says she's perfectly healthy. Nothing to worry about. Stop stressing yourself out over something out of your control."

"But it is within my control! Or at least it was!" She exclaimed, sounding distraught. "I was stressed out about everything throughout my whole pregnancy and I barely gained twenty pounds, which feels like a lot now, but considering I gained about thirty with the other three I should have known she was going to be little but I was too worried about how it would affect me after because of my age and I can't believe I let myself be so selfish." With that she broke down crying.

Henry had his hands full with their daughter but she was fast asleep so he carefully placed her in her crib and then enveloped his wife in his arms. "Hey, stop it. Stop crying about this right now." He leaned back and shook his finger at her comically, trying to elicit a laugh.

She tried to suppress a giggled but Henry knew he had gotten to her a little and he got serious. He reached up to wipe away her tears. "You weren't being selfish. You ate really well during your pregnancy and I think you would kill me if you knew how much Blake and I secretly policed your eating habits."

She couldn't help her smile now and she let out a small laugh as she playfully smacked him on the chest. "You weren't like…sneaking spinach into my milkshakes were you?"

Henry pursed his lips, "That information is top secret and you do not have the clearance."

She burst out laughing. Henry just smiled at her and enjoyed her freeing laughter, "Yep, 'arm candy' is actually of the highest clearance level in case you didn't know."

She rolled her eyes and kept laughing. Her husband was the sweetest. "What did I do to deserve you?" She asked as she placed a soft kiss on his lips.

He shook his head, "Everything, you deserve everything." He leaned in to pepper kisses all over her cheeks. "I love you, I love you, I love you," he whispered as he kissed her. Suddenly his phone rang and they both groaned.

Henry answered his phone and Elizabeth walked over to pick Kate up.

"Okay, thanks. We'll be right down."

Elizabeth looked over at him, her brow furrowed in confusion. Who on earth would be at their door? "Nooo," she moaned, "Does that mean I have to put on pants?"

Henry laughed, "It's Blake, so yes."

She perked up, Blake hadn't told her he would be stopping by today. "Can you go steal me another pair of those sweats that Stevie let me borrow the other day? They are the only pants that don't seem to rub against my incision.

Henry managed to find a pair of the pants for Elizabeth and she cleaned herself up a little before they headed downstairs. Her detail had been smart and let Blake in through the garage. She slowly walked down the stairs she couldn't stop grinning at the sight of her favorite employee. "Blake!" She exclaimed as she rounded the bottom of the staircase but her mouth dropped open when she saw two huge boxes on the floor. "What on earth is all that?"

Blake pointed to the slightly smaller box, "This one is an assortment of gifts from Jay, Daisy, Nadine, Matt, and I. Most of the office has figured out where you are by now but I think we're all keeping a lid on everything." He pointed to the bigger box, "This is from the President. He wanted me to take it to you so that it wouldn't arouse any suspicion."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in amusement, "He didn't think that a massive box wouldn't do the trick all on its own?"

Blake shrugged, "Thankfully the Secret Service agents were sneaky about it."

She laughed, "Uh huh

She then heard Henry walk down the stairs with Kate. "Do you have time to sit with us for a little while?"

Blake smiled, "Of course, ma'am."

"Hey Blake," Henry said with a smile.

"Hello Dr. McCord, how are you?"

Henry laughed, "Tired. It's good to see you." Then his eyes saw the boxes. "What in the f…" Elizabeth smacked him lightly on the arm and tried not to laugh. She turned to Blake, "We're trying to cut down on our swearing and it's not going great!"

He laughed at his boss as she grabbed his arm and led him into the family room. She sat down a little too quickly and cringed in pain, which made Blake visibly nervous. "Ma'am, are you all right?"

She nodded, lips pursed and eyes squeezed shut, "Yeah, I just sat down too fast."

When she opened her eyes Henry handed Kate off to her mother and Elizabeth happily took her. "Hey baby girl, can you say hi to Blake?" She cooed to the baby.

Blake smiled as he peered over at the infant. Her eyes were open and she was looking up at her mother. She was adorable in a little Supergirl onesie and he couldn't help but smile as he watched his boss light up while she fussed over her daughter.

"She's beautiful, ma'am. How's everyone doing?" He'd been getting updates from Henry to keep the inner circle placated but he found himself actually wanting to hear details.

"It's good. She sleeps really well so far, which is a blessing because we're exhausted anyway. The kids are great with her, constantly fighting over who gets to hold her which I can't even be a little mad about even when it gets loud because it's so sweet. I got my staples out this morning and I'm officially going to personally end anyone who tells me a c-section is 'the easy way out' because it might be a different kind of pain but holy god is it just as bad."

Blake was listening to his boss but he was sort of mesmerized by the baby. She was really cute. Her little blue eyes were wide and for some reason that made him decide she looked wise.

"Blake, you want to hold her?" Elizabeth asked, clearly sensing how enamored he was with the baby.

He wanted to hold her, he really did, but he was also really nervous to hold her.

"I…um…" he was sort of at a loss for words.

Elizabeth smiled and scooted over to him, "Okay, sit back and I'll just put her in your arms." She held Kate out and carefully transferred her over to Blake. She settled into her arms and Elizabeth leaned back. For a moment Blake looked horrified, as if he'd gotten into a situation he regretted and didn't know how to get out of it. But he looked down at the little girl who was just staring at him wide eyed and for some reason he felt at ease.

Elizabeth couldn't stop smiling as she watched Blake just take in the little baby. He even smiled as she settled in against him. He couldn't believe a little person could fit into his arms like this. He reached up and rubbed her little belly and he felt like his heart grew a size when she smiled at him.

Elizabeth watched the interaction and didn't have the heart to tell him it was probably gas and she wouldn't smile on her own for a couple weeks. She chose to be nice in the moment; she didn't want to crush Blake like Stevie had crushed Alison.

He touched her little hand and marveled at how soft her skin felt. He didn't think he had ever actually been around a baby this little before. He groaned internally, crap, he was actually going to end up liking this kid.

Henry had taken the boxes into the family room and set the smaller one next to her, which contained the gifts from the State Department, and then he went into the kitchen to make some coffee. "Ohh, do you mind if I at least open yours?" Elizabeth asked.

Blake nodded, "Of course."

"You guys really didn't have to do any of this," she said as she tore into the gift from Blake.

"Well, all we had for your office shower was cake since you told us to make donations and I guess I'm not the only one who wanted to get you something as well."

That warmed her heart, Daisy had wanted to throw her a baby shower but she hadn't felt right taking gifts from her underpaid staff and so she had just told them that if they wanted to she would appreciate them donating to a charity focused on babies and children. They had cake for the office and Daisy insisted on playing a couple games with the inner circle. It had been fun and simple and she was grateful. She and Henry wouldn't have an issue affording baby things and she was happy her staff had been so willing to make donations for those who couldn't. She opened the package to find a pile of books. She flipped through them and recognized a few names.

"I um, I figured you were getting a lot of clothes so I thought even though you can't use the books now they would be nice for when she's a little older."

Blake was right, Elizabeth did appreciate the books, she was already looking forward to reading them to her daughter. "Thank you so much, this is so sweet, Blake." She then realized there was another part of the gift wrapped in tissue paper next to the books. She unfolded it and it was a little blanket with smooth sea creature fabric on one side and soft, bumpy fabric on the other and then it had ribbons around the edge. "It's um, it's supposed to be good for sensory development. That's what I read."

"Blake this is so sweet of you, thank you so much. I love it, Kate's going to love it all too." She reached out to wrap her arm around him and gave him a sweet hug.

Henry came back into the living room and Elizabeth held up the blanket to show him. They all talked for a little while, Blake divulged some information about what was going on at work but let her know that the President told him he wasn't allowed to stress her out.

Elizabeth thought it was so cute that Blake had happily held Kate throughout the whole time he was there. She had even given him a couple outs but he really seemed to enjoy holding Kate and that made Elizabeth happy. He finally had to get going and handed his boss back her daughter. "She is the sweetest, ma'am. Congratulations, again."

"I really appreciate you coming over, Blake. It means a lot to me. And thank you so much for all the books and the blanket. That was so sweet."

"Have a great day, ma'am. I'm glad everything is going well." He leaned in to say goodbye to Kate. He reached out and touched her little hand, "Bye Kate, thanks for letting me hold you and not crying."

Elizabeth laughed, "You're better with her than you think you are, thanks for coming by."

Henry walked Blake out and then came back in. "That was really nice of Blake to come by. Kate seemed to like him," he said as he settled in next to his wife.

Elizabeth grinned, "She did, didn't she? That's a good thing; they're going to be around each other quite a bit. I'm so glad he enjoyed holding her, he seemed so nervous."

"Yeah he reminded me of Jason." Henry said with a laugh.

"Except Jason is still terrified he's going to hurt her. We need to work on that with him."

"Yeah, if we can ever pry Kate out of Ali and Stevie's arms."

Elizabeth laughed, "Yes, that is the tricky part."

"So, you want to open up your other gifts?"

"You open them, I'll hold the munchkin. Please make sure you write down who gave what."

He went through the State Department box and there was a bunch of adorable clothing and little things for Kate including the softest stuffed dog from Nadine that Elizabeth found herself wanting to snuggle it was so cozy.

Henry then went for the huge box from the President. There was a card taped to the top and Henry opened it and laughed. "Lydia definitely wrote this, she made it very clear she wants to meet baby girl as soon as you're up for it." He handed the card off to his wife and she read it and laughed. "Baby girl, the President and the First Lady are dying to meet you, how many other babies can say that?"

Henry opened the box and the first thing he pulled out was an enormous stuffed bunny rabbit. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh, "Oh my god, that thing is like five of Kate!"

"It's huge. She could probably nap on it." He suddenly got an idea, "We should probably take some pictures of her on it."

Elizabeth laughed, "Dear god, we're definitely becoming 'those' parents, aren't we?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah, but honestly I don't care."

He went through the box, finding a ton of outfits and toys for their new baby. It really was a sweet gesture. Henry sat back down next to his wife and reached out for the books from Blake. "Oh look, 'Love You Forever', I love this book. This was really thoughtful, Ali bought some books for her but we don't have many."

Henry nodded again, "So do you think the rest of your staff has figured out that you gave birth already?"

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, "Oh definitely, I mean we didn't really give an explanation for my absence. I feel bad not announcing it but I just need some privacy, you know? I'd like to think no one in the State Department would let it out on purpose but things slip out, I think right now we just need the peace and quiet to get used to having a brand new human to care for."

"I agree, I mean you and I need this but the kids definitely need this. It's a huge adjustment and I think it's going to be better for them to at least have a couple weeks of privacy before all hell breaks loose."

Elizabeth cringed, "Do you really think it's going to be that bad?"

Henry pursed his lips, he didn't want to stress her out but he wasn't going to lie to her either. "I think that you're the first member of a presidential cabinet to ever have a baby in office and because of that the press is fascinated by you. Have you talked to Daisy at all about how you're going to handle everything?"

"Yeah, we talked a bit about it and she thinks that us releasing a photo of Kate will deter the media, not completely but at least they won't all be vying for the first shot of her."

"I think that's a good plan, as long as you're okay with it?"

Elizabeth frowned, "Well, honestly I don't like the idea of releasing a picture. It's not fair that she's going to have her face plastered all over some stupid entertainment news site when she can't even consent to it. But I'd also rather just give them what they want if that means there's a chance we won't get hounded about her." She groaned, "Can I say that I hate this?"

Henry laughed and reached out to stroke her arm, "Absolutely."

* * *

So what did you think of Blake really meeting Kate? He strikes me as someone who would be hesitant but somehow end up liking her though never being able to admit he does. So I'm going to have some more fun with that. lol Anyway...thank you SO MUCH for reading and please leave me a review!


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